One funeral for Chatham massacre victims

Initially the service was tentatively set for tomorrow but the date had to be pushed back further to accommodate relatives who are living abroad. Since the brutal attack, relatives as well as villagers are living in fear while mourning the victims in the normally quiet community.

The victims are: grandmother Lena Toussaint, 75; her daughter Grace Toussaint-Baptiste, 53; Toussaint-Baptiste’s husband, Peter Baptiste, 59; and their son, Jeremy Toussaint, 24.

The gunmen executed the four relatives last week Wednesday at their home at 4 ? mm, Chatham South Trace, Chatham, located on the outskirts of Point Fortin.

Speaking to Newsday yesterday pensioner and father of Toussaint-Baptiste, Patrick Juba, 87, admitted that he too is fearful that the killers would “strike again” and hoped to have the funeral service as early as possible.

“As long as these bodies are on earth, I cannot rest. There will be one funeral for all four of them. I took the responsibility on my back to bury them. If you are willing to help ( financially) or anybody with funeral arrangements, that will be nice.

“The wake small because people afraid to come out in case they (killers) strike again,” Juba said.

Another villager told Newsday people in the community are continuing to stay indoors and are not venturing out.

“You can’t even see children playing in the street and this is school holidays, but people are scared because the killer is still on the run,” he said.

Police investigators believe the massacre may be a reprisal for the killing of Stefan Sinette, 33, also of Chatham who was shot a week earlier.

Toussaint-Baptiste was a mother of three while her husband worked as a labourer with the Forestry Division. Their son Jeremy was an electrician employed with a company in central Trinidad.