Shot mother of 3 recovering

THE 79-year-old grandmother of murdered victim Maurice Preston Phillip yesterday said she warned him about staying at the home of a man, who is now in police custody in connection with his killing and the attempted killing of the suspect’s former lover, Brenda DeSilva. Yvonne Jones, who turns 80 on September 10, told Newsday from her home at Cocorite Terrace, Cocorite, that the suspect called her home and told her not to let Phillip in his domain at Kavy Crescent, Pioneer Drive, Petit Valley. “I spoke to him (Phillip) on several occasions, but he loved the girl and she loved him.  He didn’t want to hear.  He is big enough to have sense,” Jones said. Describing Phillip as a loving child, Jones said her grandson only knew DeSilva for about three months, but that he was “in deep love”. The elderly woman said she last saw Phillip on Saturday and told Newsday that he had been living with her since he was two years old. Phillip and DeSilva, both 28, were shot Monday afternoon by a 31-year-old man at a wooden house at Kavy Crescent, allegedly over Phillip’s presence at the house. They were employed with the CEPEP programme at Sierra Leone in Diego Martin.

Phillip later died at the Port-of-Spain General Hospital (PoSGH) while DeSilva was up to last evening recovering in Ward 23 of the same institution, her sister, Crystal DeSilva told Newsday yesterday. Crystal did not want to comment further, saying she did not know “what to say again” and that her sister is in a stable condition and is “trying to talk”. Crystal told Newsday that the bullets have been removed from her sister and that she is now in the healing process.  She said her sister managed to ask relatives for her three children and cried when she saw their photographs in the newspapers. DeSilva is the mother of three children, Amanda, 11, Shawnee, 9, and Brandon, 7.  Yesterday they were seen playing in the road near their grandmother’s house on Kavy Crescent and also chatting with neighbours. After the shooting, the suspect reportedly led officers of the Western Division to the murder weapon, a .38 pistol found in the hills of Kavy Crescent.  The gun is said to have been bought from a woman in Tunapuna.  Up to late evening police said they had not traced the weapon.

Senior police officers said they are to consult with Acting Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Carla Brown-Antoine for directions. The man may appear before a Port-of-Spain Magistrate today, police said. CEPEP contractor for Diego Martin Central, Martin Pantin said as a contractor, he spoke to DeSilva and Phillip last week about the seriousness of a recent incident and advised them to deal with their personal problems. The next day, Pantin said, both DeSilva and Phillip came to him and said everything was alright and that they had gone to the police. “I told them that everything could not be alright,” Pantin said. Cpl Rivas of the West End Police Station is continuing investigations.