Mayaro teen stabbed to death

A TEENAGER is dead and another in serious condition at hospital as gang-violence erupted in Mayaro on Saturday night. Dead is Mark Lalloo, 18, of Mafeking Village, while his friend, Daniel Samaroo, also 18, of Ortoire Village, is warded at San Fernando General Hospital. The gang violence broke out after midnight at the KFC compound,  Mayaro junction. Up until late yesterday evening, Mayaro police were yet to make arrests in the incident. Lalloo’s sister, Sherry, told Newsday yesterday that she heard her brother was resisting “picong” and threats from a group of youths from Ortoire Village when his resistance turned fatal. Sherry, 23, said, “He tell them he was not looking for no fight because he not on that scene. But they still run him down, beat him up, and stab him to death.”

Samaroo, reports indicated, was the first to fall victim to the gang. At about 1am Samaroo was stabbed with a knife in both shoulders outside the KFC compound by a gang member with whom he had an on-going dispute, police reports said. Samaroo was taken to the Mayaro Health Facility for treatment.  Reports indicated that Lalloo was on his way to visit his friend at the health centre when he too was attacked by the knife-wielding gang. Police said that at about 2 am Lalloo was at Plaisance Village, a short distance away from the police station, when he was stabbed several times about his body. Sherry told Newsday that she learnt from witnesses that the most severe wound was to his rib, and blood was spraying out of his body.

Police reports said Lalloo was assisted by a villager and also taken to the health facility. Both friends were transferred to the San Fernando General Hospital (SFGH) to undergo further treatment. Lalloo’s mother, Pamela, claimed that her son bled to death at the Casualty Department of SFGH because he did not undergo emergency surgery. The mother of three said she was told that hospital authorities required her permission for her son to undergo the operation and the police officer left the hospital to embark on the two-hour drive back to Mayaro in search of her. She received the message around 9 am while she was at the market, and by that time her son was already pronounced dead at hospital.

Pamela Lalloo criticised the hospital’s policy, saying it was the difference in her son’s life and death. “They left my son to die at the hospital,” she slammed. “It was not a surgery that could have waited. “My son was bleeding to death and they did nothing because I did not sign a piece of paper!” Pamela Lalloo said the family is seeking justice for the negligence that led to her son’s death, which she termed “senseless.” “He was always laughing with his friends and they were making joke with everybody,” the sister said. “He didn’t deserve this. “Lalloo’s death pushed the murder toll for the year so far, to 318. Ag Cpl Fuentes of the Mayaro Police is continuing investigations.