Teenager Dionneze Tardieu held her 12-year-old sister Alyiah and wept as undertakers brought out their father's body from inside their home, more than 12 hours after he was shot.
Rudy Ramkissoon, 39, a real estate agent of Oleanda Circular, Couva, died after being shot three times while watching television at his home. With tears streaming down their faces, the girls begged to find out why their father was killed.
Ramkissoon bloodied corpse was found around noon by his mother, Savita Ramkissoon, and his friend, Phillip Sinaswee.
Police believe while he was watching television around 3 am someone went into his house and shot him in the head and chest. It is uncertain whether anything was stolen.
Ramkissoon's daughters and his eight-month-old son, Raffeal, who are now orphans spent most of the day being consoled by their grandparents–Savita and Ramjattan Ramkissoon–as they waited for police to find clues into the murder.
The sisters had been staying at a relative's home since last Wednesday after gunmen came into their house and threatened their father. The gunmen stole thousands of dollars in cash and jewelery. Police believe the robbery and subsequent murder were related.
Following the robbery, Ramkissoon told his mother he was uncertain about the children's safety. They were sent to a safe location.
During an interview yesterday Savita said Ramkissoon came to her home around 9 pm on Sunday to have dinner. One of his friends had died and he went to the wake to carry cases of Chubby and water, Savita explained.
She said she and Ramkissoon drank a beer and she invited him to stay the night.
"He told me that he wanted to go home. He was more comfortable there and he told me that he will call when he reached home," Savita added. She said Ramkissoon called as promised but on Monday morning when she tried to reach him, he did not answer the phone.
"I got worried and around lunchtime I called his friend and we went to the house." Savita said the bedroom doors were open and the door leading to the TV room was halfway closed.
"The room was dark and when I got in he was lying on the couch. I saw something on his stomach but I did not think it was blood. When his friend put on the light, and touched him he was cold," Savita whispered as she broke down in tears. She said since Ramkissoon's wife died, she has been comforting him.
"He was good to everybody. We are really confused about why someone will do this to him," Savita said.
Ramjattan said that Ramkissoon's work involved going to Caroni workers and organising sales for their lands. "He never had no quarrel with anyone as far as we know," Savita added.
Sinaswee said despite the recent robbery, Ramkissoon was not afraid for his life. "He was not one to talk about his problems. When his wife died we made sure he was okay," he said.
Councillor for Calcutta, Allan Seepersad, whose brother, Roopnarine Seepersad, was murdered at Exchange, Couva, last year, visited the grieving family. Seepersad called on the Police Commissioner to organise joint patrols for the district. He said too many people were being killed in the Central region.
Over the weekend – two youths Jakan Lezama, 22, and Abdiel John – were shot dead at Lisas Boulevard.
Another man Ryan Hercules was gunned down at Enterprise in Couva.
Police are asking anyone with information on Ramkissoon's killing to contact Crime Stoppers at 800-TIPS. Cpl Jeremiah Rambutan and officers of the Couva police station visited the scene and are continuing investigations.