Relatives of murdered PH driver: He was warned

Devon Fernandez (and not Hernandez as previously reported), the 33-year-old man who was killed together with 14-year-old Joshua Andrews on Monday in Morvant, was warned several times about working his car in the area because of the unpredictable criminal elements there. But he did not heed the advice as he thought because he was well-known, he would not be targeted.

His car was riddled with bullets and burst into flames.

Yesterday at the Forensic Science Centre in St James, relatives lamented over the deaths of Andrews and Fernandez. However one relative, who did not wish to be named, told reporters if Fernandez had not been so naive, he and Andrews may still be alive.

“It is not like his mother didn’t talk to him or his father didn’t talk to him,” said one relative. “They would tell him that he was working taxi in a territory that any number could play, but he would say everybody knows him. ‘Fatboy is a nice boy’ he would say.

Places that people who born and bred there would not go, he felt it was okay for him to go because he always said he wasn’t in anything.“

Relatives told Newsday he worked the Morvant area for several years, but lived in Barataria.

His mother Rhona said she would sometimes take drops from him and he would be pleasantly greeted by people all along his route.

“They would say ‘Aye Fat Boy!’ and he would say ‘Aye this is my mother you know!’ Then they would greet me as well. I just can’t believe someone would do something like this to him.”

Crystal Fernandez, his wife, told Newsday she had spoken to Fernandez no more than 15 minutes before he was killed. She said he had dropped her home after assisting her with transporting a Christmas tree and decorations from her work, a private school in Woodbrook. She said he asked her if she would like to go with him to transport some school children, but she opted to stay at home and study.

Minutes after, her sister told her about the incident.

“I could not believe it when she told me. But when I got to the scene and I saw everyone looking at me, I knew it was true. I tried to see him at the scene but the police would not let me. He was supposed to take me to dinner for my birthday next week.” Crystal described her husband as loving, supportive and comedic. They had been married for ten years. The autopsy confirmed that Fernandez and Andrews died from gunshot wounds.