Hours after he proposed to marry his new girlfriend, fisherman David Hinkson was shot dead in front of his house at Sunset Beach, Point Fortin, on Wednesday night.
The murder occurred a day before Hinkson, aka "Fatman", was scheduled to appear at the Point Fortin Magistrates' Court for maintenance of his three children from a previous relationship. He was a father of six.
Hinkson, 37, suffered three gunshot wounds to his head, chest and abdomen and died on the spot.
His cousin, Crystal Ward, and his girlfriend, who asked to be identified only as Molly, were inside the house listening to music when a man called out to Hinkson.
Ward said the house was not outfitted with electricity and when the stranger came, she and Molly came out on the porch flashing the light from their cellular phones on David and his visitor, turned assailant.
"We did not recognise the man but he told us to stop shining the light on him. David seemed to know him because they were talking for about two minutes. Then we heard him shout out 'No!'"
That was followed by three loud explosions and a thud, they said.
"David was a heavy man and when he fell it made a loud noise," Ward recalled.
She and Molly dashed under the bed and hurriedly called the police. The house is located in a gutter along the steep incline of a cliff off Sunset Beach Road and Molly said it took police half-an-hour to get to the scene.
"We came out before they arrived. We do not know who would do this," Ward said.
While Molly stood nearby wiping away tears, Ward said on the day he died, Hinkson had proposed to Molly and asked her to be his wife.
"They were on the beach when he proposed. She is the first person he ever ask to get married to him," Ward said.
She revealed Molly was her friend and she introduced her to Hinkson four months ago. They moved in together shortly after and Molly said she enjoyed cooking for Hinkson.
"He would go out and catch fish and we would go out the road and sell it. We were happy together. He planned to build over the house," Molly added.
Hinkson's mother, Gloria, who lives close by, said his estranged common-law wife, Melissa Halls, had brought him up for maintenance of their three children –Daniel, five, Aliyah, three and Lennon, seven–and he was due to appear in court yesterday.
Gloria said Hinkson also had two daughters–Ornella, 19, and Nikeisha, 18–from another relationship and another child with a woman with whom she was not familiar. Saying she raised Hinkson's first two daughters, Gloria described her son as a friendly man. She said she spoke to him two weeks ago but she did not know he was planning to marry Molly.
"David was friendly with everybody. If he quarrel with you now he never hold you in mind," Gloria added.
Police said they were looking at surveillance cameras from houses surrounding Hinkson's home.
His body has been removed to the Forensic Science Centre, St James, where an autopsy will be done today.
Anyone with information on Hinkson's death can contact Crime Stoppers at 800-TIPS. Southern Division Homicide officers are continuing investigations.
