Diego Martin brothers slain

The sins of one brother fell on another, resulting in both men being gunned down at their Diego Martin home yesterday morning.

Police reports stated that Joshua and Jerome Johnson, 33 and 31 respectively, were at their home at Broome Street, La Puerta, around 9.45 when they were ambushed and killed. Police said gunmen came from the back of the house and shot Joshua before heading to the front and killing his younger brother.

Police said Joshua, an unemployed father of two, had recently moved back to the area after he had initially fled because he was owing money for drugs he took on consignment. 

Police said that was their main theory on the motive behind the killing of the two men in a relatively quiet neighbourhood. Police said Jerome was mentally challenged but may have posed a threat to the killers while they were fleeing the crime scene.

Residents told the T&T Guardian Joshua was marked for death, as people “wanted he dead real bad.” The claim was supported by police who said Joshua was involved in criminal activity and had tried to escape the consequences by fleeing the area. The brothers had two sisters who were police officers, residents said.

Speaking with the media at the murder scene, councillor for the area, Michael Alonzo, said he was disturbed by the shooting deaths in the quiet community. 

He added he knew both men personally as residents in the area and living not too far from where they were murdered. 

“What was really disturbing to me is that one of them is mentally retarded and just up to this morning I saw him and I gave him something to eat. This is a quiet area and nothing like this has ever happened before. 

I think in the case of Jerome it was the wrong place at the wrong time,” Alonzo said.

“This was an isolated incident and I hope the community goes back to how it was. 

As far as I am told there was one relative who was around at the time of the incident and she should receive counselling along with the rest of the family.” 

Relatives of the men did not speak to members of the media as they were too distraught. 

The killing of the two men and another in south Trinidad took the murder toll to 286 for the year compared to 258 for the same period last year.