Diego Martin youth shot dead

A 22-year-old man who recently returned from the United States was yesterday gunned down just opposite his home. Dead is Meshach Samuel of River Estate, Diego Martin.

According to reports, at around one o’clock yesterday, the unemployed man was at his home when he decided to go to the shop, which is located just opposite. Eyewitnesses said they heard two shots, only to see Samuel fall to the ground, and three men run off. Samuel was rushed to the Port-of-Spain General Hospital, where he died before undergoing emergency surgery. Meshach, a father of one, died from a single gunshot wound to the upper back.

When Newsday arrived on the scene of the murder, police officers had cordoned off the area where the incident had taken place. The mother and siblings of the deceased, along with neighbours and friends, looked on as police officers conducted their investigations. With grief etched on her face, Meshach’s mother Vilina Samuel spoke out against her son’s killers, saying she was not sure why anyone would want to harm her son. The grieving mother said she always spoke to the youths of the area, trying to get them to stay away from a life of crime. Her son’s death, she said, was not the type of appreciation she had expected. “I am the peacemaker here. I talk to them and tell them a life of violence is not the way to go. I come outside my house and treat them like they are my own children. They came here and did that to my son.”

The emotional Samuel said she was not at home at the time of the incident as she had gone out to get some things for her home. She said upon her return, her daughter told her what had taken place. Saying her son’s death has hurt her deeply, Samuel said she has no intentions of getting even with her son’s killers. “I will get my justice through my Maker. Meshach did not deserve to go like this. He was not a perfect child, if I say so I would be lying. But how am I supposed to feel?” A party of officers visited the scene, headed by Sgt Anthony Lezama. Police officers could shed no light on the motive for the latest killing. However, sources indicated the murder may have been drug-related.