Valentine’s murder remains unsolved

Almost two months after T&T Guardian employee Junior Valentine was shot dead in front of his Laventille home, investigations into his murder seem to have come to a standstill. Police sources yesterday confirmed that Valentine’s murder investigation was ongoing but said homicide detectives had not solved the case. 

In a telephone interview yesterday afternoon, Valentine’s brother Curtis, a police officer assigned to the Anti-Corruption Investigations Bureau (ACIB), expressed disappointment over the snail-like pace of the investigation.  Curtis said since Valentine’s murder he has been in close contact with investigators, even providing them with useful information. “I gave the investigator a list of names of possible suspects and I got a guy to give them a statement,” Curtis said. 

He acknowledged, however, that homicide detectives could be facing challenges due to the number of investigations they were doing simultaneously. “I guess I will have to be the one to keep calling the investigators and pursuing the issue,” Curtis said. Curtis said his family was slowly recovering from Valentine’s death. “We getting there. We still do have our sudden teary moments,” a sombre Curtis said. 

Valentine, 50, a senior supervisor in the T&T Guardian’s Production Department, was shot dead by two gunmen in front of his home on Fatima Trace, Mentor Alley, Laventille, on January 11. According to police reports, Valentine, who had been employed with the T&T Guardian for over 30 years, was speaking to his neighbour when they were approached by the gunmen. Valentine was shot at more than ten times and died on the scene. Detectives of the Region One Homicide Bureau are probing Valentine’s murder.