Divali mayhem— two murdered

Dead are Anderson Kevon Stoute, 19, of Maingot Road, Princes Town and Stephenson Jagroop, 22, of Train Line, Ghandi Street, Marabella. Both men were shot to death in separate incidents after viewing Divali light-up in their areas.

And in critical condition at the San Fernando General Hospital (SFGH) is Curtis “Crane” Gomez, 38, of Poui Trace, St Mary’s Village, Moruga. Gomez, a gardener was ambushed while on his way home and chopped several times about the back and hand by two villagers armed with cutlasses. Reports are that his left wrist was severed in the attack.

In the first incident, police reported that just after midnight, Stoute, who recently began working at WASA, was liming with friends outside a bar at Petit Cafe, Princes Town when he was involved in an altercation with another man over a cellphone. Reports are that the man returned with a gang of four, one of whom whipped out a gun and fatally shot the teenager in the head.

The men then escaped.

On the Train Line, neighbours reported hearing several gunshots at about 1 am yesterday in the area. Upon checking, neighbours found Jagroop’s bleeding body in a crouched position blocking his front door. Police said Jagroop who lived alone, was hit several times in the chest when a gunman opened fire through the front door. A motive is yet to be established for the murder. The gunman escaped through some bushes leaving behind a black cap.

For relatives it was deja vu as only last May, his uncle Emmanuel “Barbie” Jagroop, 41, was shot to death on May 8, in similar fashion in the same house. Back then, it was Stephenson who had discovered his uncle’s dead body in a pool of blood.

Jagroop’s aunt with whom he shared a close relationship, wept uncontrollably when the body was removed from the house.

Yesterday at Stoute’s home, his grandmother Rosalva Joseph, 74, was trying to come to terms with his death. She took care of Stoute since his mother died six years ago.

“He was everything to me,” she cried, “just the two of us lived here and he did everything in the house for me as I am not well.”

She recalled that he took in celebrations in the street before going out where “it had plenty music playing loud.”

“I was sleeping when the message come home that he got shot in the head.”

Stoute was the only child of his father Julien who lives abroad.

Meanwhile, Moruga villagers claimed that Gomez was chopped after two men accused him of earlier setting fire to their relative’s home. Gomez was found about an hour later bleeding profusely at the home of a relative where he went for help.

An eyewitness said: “No one was at home at the time — they found him when the got in and called the police.” Gomez was rushed to the San Fernando General Hospital.

Police are searching for the two Moruga men in connection with the incident while officers from the southern Homicide Division are continuing investigations into the murders.