A manhunt has been launched for a gunman who fatally shot a La Horquetta woman hours after she spurned him when he tried to kiss her. Debbie Maloney, 40, a mother of seven, of Manny Dookie Street, Phase One, was pronounced dead on arrival at the Arima Health Facility. Her 14-year-old daughter, Stephanie Titus, who was also shot by the gunman, is fighting for her life at the hospital. Homicide officers also are investigating the deaths of three other people who were killed in separate incidents in Santa Cruz, Port-of-Spain and Laventille.
The victims are:
Nathan Raymond, 20, of Maraj Trace, Cantaro Village, Upper Santa Cruz, was found dead yesterday morning.
Aaron "Lindsay" Payne, 25, of Cap-de-Ville Erin Road, Buenos Aires, died on Sunday morning after he was beaten on the Brian Lara Promenade, Port-of-Spain.
Abdul Mason, 25, of Picton Road, was shot dead at Desperlie Crescent, Laventille, yesterday morning.
The murder count stands at 461 for the year, compared with 489 for the same period last year. A report said Maloney and the suspect were leaving a party when he attempted to kiss her. Police said she spurned him, pushed him away and went home. Hours later, the suspect entered her home and pointed a gun at her 12-year-old son, Andre Titus. Her daughter, Stephanie, began to scream and was shot on the left side of her chest.
Maloney, who was across the street, heard the commotion and rushed to her house. She was shot in the front yard. Up to late yesterday evening, Stephanie, was listed in critical condition at the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex. Police said they had spoken to the suspect hours before the incident during an exercise in the district. They said the suspect, who is in his 30s, is "well known to police and an arrest is imminent."
Relatives said Maloney and her daughter were not the target but another relative. In the Santa Cruz incident, residents said they heard several loud explosions around 2 am and when they checked hours later they found Nathan Raymond's body under a neighbour's house at Conrad Street, Contaro Village.
Richard Raymond, the victim's brother said Nathan did not have a dispute with other residents. He said his brother was a handyman and an avid hunter who liked to hunt deer and agouti. In a separate incident, Abdul Mason was walking through a track when residents heard loud explosions. When they checked, they found Mason with gunshot wounds about the body. He died at the scene.
ASP McIntyre, acting ASP Sahadeo Singh and Sgt Franks visited the crime scene. Mason, is the son of former political activist, Auburn "Blackboy" Mason, who sought refugee status at the British High Commission in 2008. In the death of Aaron "Lindsay" Payne, his aunt, Ann Marie Chapman, is calling on Health Minister Therese Baptiste Cornelis to investigate it. Chapman claims Payne was prescribed allergy tablets by a doctor after he was beaten by robbers on the Brian Lara Promenade. She said last Sunday Payne was on his way home when he was robbed of his cellphones and other valuables and left for dead on the promenade.