Something wrong with the system

Family members and close friends of 24-year-old Ronald Marshall lamented to reporters yesterday on the amount of murders occurring in Enterprise, Chaguanas, amid the high police presence in the area. Marshall was shot dead near a car wash on Africa Grounds, Enterprise by an unknown man.

“Something is wrong with the whole system,” said a close friend who did not wish to be named. “Police are going right through Enterprise, but as soon as shooting happens, they cannot be found. I don’t know if the criminals are timing the police or telling them to stay away, but when these killings happen, it is the only time the police are not there.”

Earlier reports said Marshall was liming with friends near the car wash when a gunman approached and shot him several times. Marshall died on the spot, while the gunman fled the scene, and witnesses scampered to safety.

Close friends and relatives told reporters the last thing he had done before he was killed was bathe the family dog and wash down the yard at his grandmother’s house.

An autopsy done at the Forensic Science Centre in St James confirmed that he died from multiple gunshot wounds.

In a separate case, family members of 63-year-old Earl Vananson were trying to determine if his death was accidental or a case of foul play.

His daughter, Shonette, told reporters yesterday that she was asleep at their Waterloo, Carapichaima home when her sister woke her up, she led her to the outside of their home where Vananson was found dead. There was a bloody stone near his body, leading family members to believe that he died from a blow to the head from the stone.

Family members went to the Forensic Science Centre in St James yesterday, but staffing and transportation problems prevented them from getting closure, and finding out the cause of Vananson’s death. Vananson was a labourer and a father of five.