The common-law husband of Ornella Greaves, who was killed along the Beetham Highway during protests on Tuesday, says he is willing to meet with the Commissioner of Police Gary Griffith once he (Griffith) is willing to reach out to him.
Greaves was killed as she was part of a group involved in a confrontation with the police, who were responding to one of several protests in the capital over the killings of Joel Jacob, Noel Diamond and Israel Clinton in Morvant by police over the weekend.
Speaking with the Guardian Media yesterday, Darren Joseph said the death “really broke him emotionally and mentally.” He said this was what led to have making comment against Griffith but noted that he may have said things that he did not stand by.
“Listen, I don’t preach badness and I am not in them kind of thing but I was in a container hustling work when I got a call that my child mother was dead,” he told Guardian Media yesterday.“How do you expect me to feel and react? I told the children that same night and in grief, I mash up real things in my house. How can I move on from here? It real hard.”
Joseph, 41, said he does not have a permanent job but would get up early every morning to “hustle work” from incoming fishing boats at the Sea Lots Fishing Depot just to make sure he made an honest dollar to see about his six children, who are between the ages of two and 13. He said Greaves, who was pregnant, worked in the URP programme and sold cigarettes on the side to assist with their daily expenses.
Asked what was his next step, Joseph replied: “To look for a good permanent job so that I can continue seeing about my children and paying my bills honestly, because I don’t rob, thief and do anybody no wrong and I believe in working hard to see about my children.”
Ornella Greaves
He added, “As for now, my children may have to stay by their grandmother until I catch myself a little...as for what I said before that’s not me but if the Commissioner of Police willing to meet with me to talk I am willing to meet with him and he is welcomed at my house or if he wants me to come see him wherever I will because I am no threat to anyone.”
Greaves’ autopsy is scheduled for today at the Forensic Science Centre in St James.
In a release issued on Thursday, the Police Complaints Authority (PCA) said it had initiated an investigation into the fatal shooting of Greaves.
“As an independent oversight body, the PCA is committed to ensuring that no police officer acts above the rule of law and to empowering the citizenry to report incidents of police misconduct and/or criminal activity,” the PCA said.
The body asked any witnesses to Tuesday’s incident or people with information to contact them at 627-4383 or 627-4386 or at info@pca.org.tt
The PCA also assured that all information provided will be treated as confidential.