Triple murder in Laventille
A 39-year-old man and his two teenage sons were murdered when two gunmen stormed their Laventille home early yesterday morning.The victims were identified as Kerwin Melville, 38, an employee with the Unemployment Relief Programme (URP), and his sons Shaquille, 16, and Jameel, 13.
According to reports, around 2 am, a neighbour reported seeing two men entering the back door of the family's Kelly Village, Laventille, home. Several minutes later, other residents were awakened by a volley of gunshots.Police said the residents hid in their homes for almost half an hour after the shooting began and were unable to see the attackers.
Officers of the Port-of-Spain CID led by ASP Ajith Persad responded shortly after, and found the three family members in their beds. They were all shot several times in their heads and chests. The victims were identified at the scene by Kerwin's estranged common-law wife, Porsha Bobb, the boys' mother.
Several first responders to the scene described the killings as "execution-style." The father and sons were taken to Port-of-Spain General Hospital where Kerwin and Jameel were pronounced dead on arrival.Shaquille, a student of the Russel Latapy High School in Morvant, died shortly before midday yesterday, after undergoing emergency surgery. Jameel was a student of the Success Laventille Composite School, which is near the family's home.
The boys' mother told police that hours before the incident, Shaquille performed as a background character during a calysonian's performance at Thursday's Calypso Monarch competition at the Queen's Park Savannah, Port-of-Spain.
Investigators are working on the theory the gunmen were targeting Kerwin's other son, who was not home at the time of the shooting. That son, police said, is a known member of a gang which operates in the community. The murders have been listed as gang-related.Meanwhile, a 27-year-old man who was wounded in a shooting on Monday afternoon has died in hospital. Investigators are now treating his death as a murder.
Around 2 pm on Monday, Kelvon Permell, of Picton Road, Laventille, was standing on Observatory Street, Port-of-Spain, when he was attacked by two gunmen who shot him several times. Permell was taken to the Port-of-Spain General Hospital where he remained warded until his death.The murder toll now stands at 44 for the year thus far.
Inspector Sahadeo Singh, Sgt Swamber and PC Romeo, of the Region One Homicide Bureau, are probing the four murders.