Up to last evening, police detectives confirmed that the grandmother, who is 40 years old and her children — an 18-year-old young woman who is also the baby’s mother, a boy, 15, and a 13-year-old girl — were assisting with the investigations.

It is believed the baby girl named “Mercy”, who was born on February 8, died some eight months ago. But rather than reporting the death to the authorities, the baby was kept inside a crib in a room of the wooden house located at Chin Fong Alley #1, Sobo Village.

Last Friday, an autopsy performed at the Forensic Science Centre, St James, revealed that the cause of death was inconclusive.

The bizarre discovery of the decaying body of the baby girl still clad in a diaper caused several residents to call on police to have psychiatric evaluations conducted especially for the grandmother, who had told them that the baby was hers.

Police have since responded to the cries saying that they do not have the authority to take detained individuals for psychiatric evaluation unless they are charged for an offence.

All four relatives were not charged as of last evening.

Woman Sgt Taitt of the La Brea Police Station is spearheading investigations.

Both teams suffered home defeats in their opening Final Round games on Friday, with Trinidad and Tobago beaten 2-0 by Costa Rica while Honduras fell to a 1-0 loss against Panama.

John, who has a tally of 70 goals in 115 international appearances, said in a TT Football Association (TT FA) media release, “I really look at Honduras as a three-pointer for us. I think going there gives us a chance to get a result.

We will get more chances.

“We can play a bit quicker and with a bit more drive. We don’t want to be panicking and in fact we don’t need to be in a panic mode…I don’t think we need to play too defensive but we also don’t want to be more open.” John, who currently plays for Saddle Hill Hotspur in the National Super League Championship Division and also serves as an assistant coach with Central FC, continued, “after 10 to 15 minutes we can be settled in and start moving the ball.

We need to see more guys breaking their necks and busting their tails to get into the box.

We need more players making runs past Kenwyne (Jones) around the box. The Costa Ricans were passing and moving while we were just passing without much movement. We need to make unselfish runs and work for each other. But for me I think this can be a three-pointer for us.” The 39-year-old John went on to state, “the Hondurans will be under pressure after the loss to Panama so their fans will be on their backs early. I think if we can take the sting out of the game, and get their fans out of it, we can go on to get the victory.” Stephen Hart, the TT coach, has acknowledged that his charges will have to improve in their attacking plays in order to emerge victorious in today’s match.

“We know very well that we need to improve in the attacking third,” he said.

“How we combine our movement off the ball needs to be a lot more dynamic and we will have to close down Honduras effectively.

Not just close them down but try to win the ball in crucial areas of the pitch and try to get on top of them because that is what they are going to try to do to us in the opening minutes.” Hart continued, “they (Honduras) are very dynamic, lots of hard running, hard tackling. They just put you under pressure all the time and we have to try and counter that by playing quicker, playing deeper and doing the same to them.

It’s just a matter of the mindset and the attitude towards doing what needs to be done.”

The resident who lives at San Francique, Penal, has constructed a galvanise fence that is 100 feet long, between her house and her neighbour’s.

However, the fence which is 20 feet tall has virtually blocked the neighbour’s view into their premises.

Claiming that she has been badly affected, the neighbour, 58-year-old Santie Bhimull, has taken the matter to the High Court and wants a Judge to rule that she is entitled to sunlight and air space which her neighbour’s tall fence is blocking.

The case is an unprecedented one in the history of Trinidad and Tobago, for never has any one sued against not being able to enjoy viewing, sunlight and airspace.

In a lawsuit seeking an injunction, Bhimull has filed in the San Fernando High Court an application in which she has outlined her predicament of having to endure each morning for the past three weeks, the sight of the fence alongside her house which separates her boundary from the residence next door.

She has named her neighbours, Devika Bhimull-Bisnath and Davindra Bisnath, as defendants in the lawsuit.

Filed by attorney Stephen Boodram, who is instructing attorney Jeevan Rampersad, Bhimull stated that since the fence was erected, she and her family have been subjected to unbearably hot, closed and stifling conditions.

The woman stated in her lawsuit that the sun projects on the tall sheets of galvanise and, as a result, she and her family are forced to take frequent showers due to the increased heat.

Bhimull is also complaining that the fence prevents air from blowing into her home. This, she said, caused her to faint one day.

She said the fence has caused her to become claustrophobic, especially when she and her family are in their living room and bedrooms.

Bhimull stated that a building inspector from the Town and Country Planning department visited her premises and had warned the neighbour that there is a seven feet height restriction.

She also contends that due to the height of the galvanise, she and her family have been deprived of natural light and air and that, even on sunny days, her house and the surroundings become dark, or dusk-like.

Apart from the lack of sunlight and the heat being generated in her house, Bhimull pleaded that the view from her living room and bedrooms have been fully obscured.

Neither she, nor members of her family, can see anything over the fence.

The woman said that as a result of the darkness which she is subjected to, she had to install security lights.

Bhimull is seeking a court order to force the neighbours to dismantle the galvanise fence.

She is seeking compensation for nuisance.

The Prime Minister made the comment to reporters during a walkabout in St Joseph in support of People’s National Movement (PNM) Valsayn/St Joseph candidate Marcia Chan Pack.

Rowley said if some of those people are TT citizens and they are deported, “we just have to absorb them back home.” He admitted this would not be a good situation for the country but “it’s not something we have any control over.” He added, “We don’t have too much say in that.

“We are just hoping that does not become US policy.” Reiterating that the Government has been “keeping our eyes on the development in the politics in America,” Rowley said, “We have citizens all over the world and we have a large number in the United States.” The Prime Minister said while there is a view there might be some “backing away” from Trump’s statement, some people “may return on their own if the circumstances in America change, America becomes less friendly and less the land of opportunity.” Should any TT nationals residing in the US decide to return home, Rowley said, “We have to ensure that we absorb them and they become part of where they came from.” In cases where such people have no families in TT, the Prime Minister said, “that does not change the fact that they are TT citizens, so they will just have to integrate themselves into homes here.” Rowley said this was not just a matter of TT nationals returning home but also the case of people in this country who depend on or who are supported by remittances from relatives living in the US.

He added that this could put additional pressure on our situation.

Acting Director of Health, Dr Dale Sookoo, made the observation at the Couva District Health Facility Diabetes Symposium and Health Fair, Camden Road, Couva yesterday.

Citing statistics from the Diabetes Association of TT (DATT), Sookoo said diabetes was the nation’s second leading cause of death as every year “1,000 adults in our island are diagnosed with diabetes, adding to a population of more than 150,000 patients nationwide and a rate of diabetes prevalence at 12- 13 percent, that is almost twice the global average.” And with this year’s theme being- “eyes on Diabetes”, Sookoo said an area of focus continued to be the prevention of blindness in diabetic patients.

“Blindness is a life changing disability which puts a heavy strain on the daily lives of sufferers, their families and society at large,” he said, and noted that diabetic retinopathy was the most common complication of diabetes and a major cause of visual loss.

“Early detection by regular surveillance is thus essential if people with sight threatening retinopathy are to be identified in time to offer them the treatment which can prevent visual loss,” Sookoo said.

He noted that the South West Regional Health Authority, (SWRHGA), possessed a dedicated Diabetic Retinopathy Screening Service which conducts screening at the SWRHA’s primary care facilities “with the goal of screening all diabetic patients identifying urgent disease and referring to our ophthalmology department for early treatment.” Sookoo observed that diabetes was attributed to lifestyle choices and urged patients to exercise, “go out and walk” and cut down on oily and fatty foods.

He also shared advice to younger persons saying they should “get off the couch, put down the video games and pick up a cricket bat, a basketball, a football, ride a bicycle, do something, anything, don’t just sit at home all day long.”

Well for six weeks you can have that chance to win again when you buy your Newsday. Starting since Sunday last, two cards per week will be inserted in the Sunday Newsday.

The BINGO numbers will be published daily for the daily and weekly prizes. From Monday to Friday, there will be a daily draw of special predetermined BINGO patterns such as Postage Stamp, Telephone Pole, Railroad tracks among 18 other patterns.

Then, listen to your radio, check out Facebook or other social media spaces and Newsday’s website. If your numbers are in the correct pattern, you stand the chance of winning TT$500 each day. The weekly BINGO pattern, a blackout with the card completely covered, will see the lucky person winning $2500.

All of your entries will be entered into a big draw for the lucky winner of the Suzuki Vitara. The numbers will be chosen using the online number service from random.org.

That some miscreant could even contemplate to take the life of an innocent human being to supposedly send a message to someone else — in this case Mrs Dyer-Francis’ policeman son — must shock us all to our very core.

This marks a new low, even for a society seemingly inured by a two-decade bloody litany of murders, from infant to pensioner, from housewife to husband.

The coldly calculated murder comes amid a week of shooting sprees — from Curepe to D’Abadie to Mount Lambert — and a month-long spate of domestic violence killings. So far more than 400 people have been murdered this year, with no indication of abatement as we end 2016 and head into 2017 (with a New Year’s homicide upsurge expected due to “house cleaning” by rival gangs).

Yet the murder of Mrs Dyer- Francis is particularly heinous as we must ask ourselves to what level of barbarism has the nation descended when evildoers can pick and choose which lives they will expend to send messages to the victims’ loved ones who are left behind to grieve? Even if criminal gangs live by an adage of “an eye for an eye” against each other, what “code” of honour among thieves does the killing of an innocent elderly woman comply with? None! Just as importantly, what can we now expect from law enforcement authorities who have an unenviable homicide detection rate of just 17 percent? The Police Service’s failure to crack crimes happening in broad daylight has given criminals the licence to commit their dastardly acts, and must be reversed now.

They must address the causes of crime and clamp the lid down on this bubbling cauldron of criminality.

We have said this ad nauseam.

Minister of National Security Edmund Dillon told Newsday on Sunday that the police will try new strategies for detection by way of a higher police presence and better intelligence-gathering, and we hope these are hard new measures and not mere tinkering.

Further, he rightly appealed to people to cease the violence that is destroying the nation, where neighbour kills neighbour, and brother kills brother.

The machinery of crime detection and prosecution against hardcore criminals must be supplemented by efforts at moral suasion to dissuade people from the lure of criminality, whether the fatherless boy open to the lure of the neighbourhood gang leader who offers a sense of self-esteem, or the suspicious spouse contemplating murder.

Deliberate criminality is all too much a feature of national life to which, in a manner of speaking, we should train all guns. But rampant criminality is also just a facet of lawlessness, another of which — the recklessness on the nation’s roads that is also snatching away too many lives — must be curbed by more sustained police action.

Law enforcement has to be made to arrive at the point of rigorously seeking to maintain the public’s confidence, even as regrettably a scenario now unfolds of a police involvement in a $400,000 heist, which will surely lead some impressionable youngsters to say to themselves, “If the priest could play…” While the killer of Mrs Dyer- Francis showed no sense of right and wrong, we as a society must resolutely reject such a premise, and assert our basic humanity.

Minister Dillon and the national security apparatus must do more to help us do just that and rid ourselves of these terrible times.

While they are accompanied by their parents, this phenomenon raises a number of questions, including the issue of child exploitation and the use of children to play on the minds of those in authority.

For many people including educators, this development raises serious concern. In most instances these acts of protest carry strong messages aimed at the political directorate and in some instances even laced with political undertones.

While citizens of all ages have the constitutional right to express their opinion, there is also the question of responsibilities that accompany all rights. Do these children truly understand what they are doing and the consequences of their actions? As minors, they cannot be held accountable for their actions and at school their teachers, acting in loco parentis, are thus held accountable for their actions, well-being and welfare. This is why it becomes all the more troubling when children are seen during school hours, in full school uniform, taking to the streets to make certain demands of the authorities.

While most of these protests are quite peaceful in nature, it is no secret that such action have the potential to escalate into violent confrontations, which may necessitate the intervention and action of the police. This can thus expose children to undue harm and danger.

Do these children, at the urging of their parents, truly understand that they are engaging in actions that may be in contravention of the law? Do they know that all avenues of dialogue to have the particular issue resolved have been exhausted, and protest action on the streets is a last resort? Do they understand all the dimensions of the issue(s) and why protest action is now the option of choice? Are they included in the discussions among parents and other adults when such decisions are made? These are some of the questions educators and the society at large must ponder upon. In seeking to build a democratic society, children must be taught that one is held accountable for one’s action, in addition to respecting the rule of law and the structures of engagement that govern a civilized society.

They must be taught to communicate with each other and those in authority in a civil and respectful manner, engaging existing structures and not disrespecting those in authority. They must be taught that civil disobedience is a last option to be engaged only when civil institutions break down and fail to serve the people.

This kind of deep understanding of principles of democracy is hopefully acquired when one becomes an adult and thus the decision to engage in protest action is made after careful consideration of a myriad of issues.

As adults we must be very careful about age sensitive exposure to children, bearing in mind their levels of understanding to decipher complex issues of rights versus responsibilities as well as actions and consequences. If children are to be involved in protest action for one reason or the other, adults must consider the long-term implications of such involvement in the context of building a civil society.

Using children as political pawns should never be an option.

It is sincerely hoped that when such action is being contemplated, the adults planning such action are fully conscientious of short and long-term consequences.

Teachers will be well advised to ensure that if they become aware of such action being planned they would engage in the necessary guidance for parents.

According to reports, the woman was attempting to cross the eastbound lane of Wrightson Road, at about 4 am when she was struck by a vehicle. The woman died at the scene. Newsday understands the woman of African descent and who was clad in a blue dress was struck by the vehicle with such force that her clothes were ripped off.

Police and emergency services were called, and eastbound traffic was diverted onto Richmond Street, while investigators cordoned off and processed the scene of the accident. Her body was ordered removed to the Forensic Science Centre, St James where her body will be kept for safekeeping.

Police sources told Newsday yesterday that CCTV footage is being retrieved from cameras positioned along Wrightson Road, to find the make and by extension the owner of the vehicle which struck the woman .

Police officers investigating the incident sent a public message to the driver, strongly suggesting he or she make themselves available to the Central Police Station, as soon as possible. In an unrelated incident, a teenaged boy is now resting comfortably after being struck by a maxi while on his way to school. Newsday understands at about 7.30 am yesterday, the 14-year-old Form 1 student was attempting to cross Pashley Street, Laventille when he was struck by a maxi taxi. The boy was rushed to the nearest hospital, where he was said to be treated for a broken leg. He suffered no life-threatening injuries.

“Demonic forces, I cast you out!” shouted Pastor Dairy.

He asked the family of Sheldon Boatswain, 34 — who was brutally chopped, dragged through his house, and burned while alive last Tuesday at his Myer’s Lane, Enterprise home by a male relative with whom he lived — to hold hands around the Boatswain’s pearl coloured casket and pray against the work of the devil.

“Whatever you have released on this family, whatever generational curses, we crush the work of the enemy, we crush the work of Satan, and I command a reversal in the name of Jesus.” The family and friends gathered in the Proof Producers Ministry Church of God in Enterprise, Chaguanas lifted their hands to join their fervent prayers for deliverance with the pastor’s.

During his sermon, Dairy reminded those gathered that Boatswain’s body was “just an object” that carried his eternal soul.

“The body that you see here is not Sheldon.

He is gone. If you want to communicate with Sheldon, live for God and die, and then you will see him.” Boatswain was eulogised by one of his sisters, Debbie Ann Neils, and mourned by a church filled with fervent believers who remembered Boatswain as a “man of the Lord.” After the viewing of his body, a family member smiled through her tears and remarked, “his face looks normal, man.

Thank God for that.” Boatswain’s alleged killer, whose family said was a St Ann’s outpatient, remains in police custody at the Cunupia Police Station.

Police are awaiting instructions from the Director of Public Prosecutions on whether or not he should be charged.