A shooting in the crime-plagued Freeman Road, St Augustine community left two men dead and a pregnant teenager fighting for her life at hospital.
Police said Daniel Riley, 21, of Freeman Road, died after being shot in the chest by gunmen as he slept on a bed. His pregnant girlfriend Angelie Riley, 16, was also shot in the stomach as she covered it to protect her eight-month-old unborn child during the attack.
Angelie remained in a critical condition at the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex, Mt Hope, last night.
The other dead man, who remained unidentified, is believed to be one of the gunmen in the ambush, who was killed at the scene by his own gang members.
Reports indicate that the couple was having an afternoon nap inside the container they lived in around 1.15 pm, when a silver Nissan Tiida pulled up and two gunmen got out and walked in through the open doorway and began shooting.
Riley’s mother Helen Riley and her 16-year-old son, who lived next door, sought cover in their container home.
At the scene yesterday, Helen told reporters, “About a month ago, gunmen pass and shoot up the place but the first time, he (Daniel) didn’t get shoot or anything. This is the second time they come and they come for him serious.”
A scared Helen admitted the body count could have been higher if they hadn’t taken evasive action quickly.
“I was inside and I run and lock the door fast because we would have gotten shoot too … when I lock the container, he hear that and swing back so for me, but we hide when the gunshots happen,” she said.
“And because the container is iron, he shoot up the window and thing, but we feel the vibrations and thing from it. We hide under the bed and call the police.”
She described Daniel as a “nice child.”
“He’s hard working and he would sell his own stuff and thing and do anything I ask him to do,” she added.
Even as police scoured the crime scene, Helen sold the produce Daniel had set up on their roadside stall, including pumpkin, dasheen bush, bhagi and pommerac, to passers-by who were unaware of the tragedy.
Praying for Angelie and the baby to survive, as this was all she had left of Daniel, Helen said, “He was working real hard to buy all the baby stuff and thing…he didn’t make it to see that.”
This would have been the couple’s first child, whilst Angelie has a two-year-old girl from a previous relationship.
The Riley family moved to the area 15 years ago from Beetham Gardens, Laventille.
However, Helen said the family would now have to leave the area.
“We have to move from here because they want to come to kill everybody,” she said.
Referring to the killings of Darshan Ramnauth and Geno Shah at Warner Street, off Freeman Road, in the area commonly referred to as the Trainline on January 24, followed by the execution of mother of three Aneesa Ramkissoon on March 3, Helen said the entire community is now fearful, as violence could erupt at any time.
A 21-year-old Five Rivers man has since been charged with the killings of Ramnauth and Shah, while Ramkissoon’s killers remain on the loose.
Ramkissoon’s sister’s home was also set alight by two masked men on March 6. This was followed by the torching of a house belonging to Kishore and Vijay Mahabir on March 26; and then Indrani Joseph’s home on March 29. All the homes were situated along the Trainline.
Helen said, “This whole thing with Trainline get out of hand and it’s innocent people paying for it now. We not even living on that side but we is the ones who feeling it here on this side. I just know I have to find somewhere to live. I have to go as soon as tonight (yesterday) because I fraid to live here.”
Neighbours yesterday described Daniel and Angelie as a nice couple who were always pleasant and always hustling to earn a dollar.
