Murder victim mistakenly identified

According to relatives who spoke at the Forensic Science Centre, St James, La Vende was driving a vehicle owned by a man who is allegedly being targeted by criminal elements. La Vende’s sister, who did not want her name to be published, told reporters yesterday she spoke to him moments before he was shot dead at Vanderpool Lane, Diego Martin.

“These days you can’t lime outside with any and everyone,” said the sister, “If people see you liming with a group of other people then they would class you with them too. He called me around 10.54.

Every Sunday he would come by me for food,” said the sister. “He called me that morning and asked me what I cooked, and I said Saltfish and Dumplings.” The sister said, had she known it was going to be the last conversation that she would have with her brother, she would have stayed on the phone longer.

The sister told Newsday that she got a call from one of her brother’s friends.

“He called me and said ‘girl you hear what happened?’ I said no.

He told me that another friend of Shaquille’s car got shot up and Shaquille was driving it. I tried calling his phone, but when I called and I didn’t get through I started to feel like my belly was boiling.” the sister recalled. She continued calling and a woman answered the phone saying that Shaquille was killed near her house. The woman explained that La Vende, had used his friend’s car to transport her to her home, so she could pick up her child. They did not know that they were being followed by hit men, whose target was the owner of the car which Shaquille was driving.

When they arrived at her yard, and the woman exited the car, Newsday understands the gunmen intercepted the vehicle, alighted from their car with firearms in hand and riddled the car and La Vende with bullets.

The men then escaped in their vehicle.

The sister said losing La Vende at the hands of gunmen was a painful experience, but the pain is only compounded, since her other brother, Shastri, was killed in a similar manner last year in Enterprise.

Shastri La Vende’s bullet riddled body was found on October 19 of last year, in a vehicle at Enterprise Street, Chaguanas.

“It was the same thing last year when my brother, Shastri, had gotten killed” the sister said, “That whole day I was so sick that I could not even get off my bed. You know how hard it is for me to go and tell my mother now that her next son get killed? That real hurt me. I took care of Shaquille and Shastri from birth because I was the eldest.” Newsday understands funeral arrangements are being made and a funeral service may be held later this week. An autopsy performed at the Forensic Science Centre, St James confirmed La Vende died from multiple gunshot wounds