Tobago Correspondent
A celebration of life turned into death on Thursday night, after a 29-year-old man was murdered during a birthday lime in Patience Hill, Tobago.
According to reports, Kurt Bovell, of Patience Hill, was hanging out with friends under a shed around 10.35 pm when a gunman approached the group.
The unmasked assailant shot Bovell before firing several more times as the crowd scampered for safety. The gunman then approached Bovell and shot him several times in the head.
The killer still had time to commit a robbery, as he snatched the chain off someone’s neck before escaping.
The DMO arrived at the scene and pronounced Bovell dead.
At Patience Hill yesterday, blood could still be seen in a pool of water where the group was liming.
Resident Jody Melville Nimblett, who lives near where the murder happened, said the incident had left her traumatised. She said she had been trying to wash away blood the entire morning and was still in shock.
“He was just lying on the floor for hours before they move him. It was execution style,” she said.
She said Bovell and other young men often lime outside their home and her mother would cook for them. She described Bovell as a close friend of the family and said he was a very nice and respectful person. However, she said they knew he lived a double life and had gone to prison for a robbery.
“Whole night I stay up asking what Kurt could do for somebody to come and do this.”
Nonetheless, she said, “Nobody deserves to die like that.”
She said his mother, Beryl Bovell, would call them regularly and tell them to make sure he did not get into trouble.
“She really tried her best. She tried to save him, but you have no choice about the path they choose.”
Asked if she felt unsafe in her community, Melville Nimblett shook her head.
“No, I still feel safe. I only feel unsafe around people you can’t trust. They targeted him. They ain’t look for chest or foot. They look for his head. I would have felt unsafe if 15 people get shoot, but it is just one person they came for.”
She urged young men in the community to use the incident as a wake-up call.
“He is an example to stop living double life. Live truthfully and don’t distress anyone.”
She said people in Patience Hill, especially youths, feel neglected by the authorities. She said the area is labelled a hotspot, but she sees it differently.
“They say here is a bad area —no, no, no. Here is love, but it’s just some people that come around here. Most young boys here just need love and guidance.”
Electoral representative Nigel Taitt told Guardian Media he knows the Bovell family and called the deceased’s mother yesterday morning to express his condolences. Taitt said he has spoken with police and was troubled by the shooting.
“I am concerned by the amount of violence that is taking place in my community and Tobago in general, especially when it is gun-related. So many innocent persons could have been killed or even injured. It is something very worrying.”
Snr Supt Rodhill Kirk revealed the Homicide Bureau is investigating certain leads, but declined to say it was linked to gang activity.
Asked if the Patience Hill area is a hotspot, Kirk said no, but “there is a lot if unwanted liming in the area.”
He claimed that when police conduct operations in the community, small businesses complain they are chasing away their customers.
“At the end of the day we could only do so much,” he said.
