Relatives of Port-of-Spain resident Ashton Agard say he changed his life and had been quietly working to improve himself and his circumstances before he was killed on Monday.
Claiming he fell victim to the ongoing gang warfare in the Piccadilly area, a close female relative yesterday said, “He didn’t deserve that.”
Speaking at the Forensic Science Centre, St James, the woman, who did not want to be identified, said although the 28-year-old spent two years at the Youth Training Centre, “he wanted a better life and he learned from his mistakes. At the end of the day, he wanted a change.”
She added, “I don’t find he deserved what he get though.”
Agard, who lived at St John Street, was shot around 4.10 pm on Monday.
Officers of the Inter-Agency Task Force Strike Team were on patrol at Rose Hill, Laventille Road, when they heard gunshots. They later found Agard’s body near the entrance leading to Guy’s Central Tyre Shop, where he had been employed for the past three years. He was shot multiple times.
The relative denied he was involved in any criminal activities.
“This is a painful situation. You going out there, trying to earn an honest living, and somebody could just come on your job site and kill you...you trying to walk the straight and narrow...”
Asked how she felt about the spiralling crime situation, the grieving woman specifically referred to the East Dry River area, saying, “It is out of control all over and the police need to do something.”
She said it was only on Sunday that Agard had plugged her car tyre and then jokingly told her to open a tyre shop, which he would operate for her.