Story by RHONDOR DOWLAT-ROSTANT
The Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (TTPS) is offering a $25,000 reward for anyone who can divulge information as to the identity of the killer of two-year-old baby girl, Aniah.
This was disclosed on Thursday during the TTPS' weekly media conference, by Commissioner of Police, Gary Griffith.
Griffith slammed members of the public, questioning where was the outcry and the witnesses when the child was killed along with her father, 39-year-old Stephen McLeod, at Achong Trace in Tunapuna, last Friday.
Griffith said if it was a case involving the police, everyone would have seen and come forward with information and also to protest.
“Recently, I’ve seen the hypocrisy. I asked where was the concern? Where was the anger? Oh, I asked if this anger is only for police killing…Where is the concern? Where is the anger? Is it anger and concern only in the involvement of police shootings? A group tried to do the same thing and tried to use the death of a child as a front to promote other aspects. And the mother was quite right they were out of place,” Griffith said.
“Instead of everyone trying to play this game of saying ‘let’s not try to blame the police for everything’, maybe we should look at ourselves in the mirror and say ‘what can be done to help’,” he added.
“I could put my head on a block, if heaven forbid, the police were involved in that, and someone had shot at the child, and the police shot back, and the child was killed in the cross fire, there would be all hell to pay and hundreds of witnesses automatically turn up. Because the police not involved, no one saw anything, no one is saying anything, and that is what usually happens. But if the police were involved, all of a sudden, people see everything,” Griffith said.
The police commissioner said the TTPS’ intention is to “hunt down that individual” but added that there may be criticism if the police actually catch the perpetrator.
“We intend to hunt him down and find him, and if he has the same firearm in his possession he used to kill a two-year-old child, and he points that weapon at the officers and police in that armed conflict (in minimum use of force shoot) at that individual and he is killed, you will have more aggression, more hurt, more pain, being said about police killing a killer than the killer killing a two-year-old child,” he stated.
"The Trinidad and Tobago Police Service will take this opportunity today to inform the public that we are putting out a $25,000 reward for information that can assist us in trying to pinpoint the perpetrator of that heinous act," Griffith said.
Anyone with information is asked to share it with Crime Stoppers by contacting them at 800-TIPS (8477).