US award for Dana

While the murder inquiry continued on Friday against 10 men charged with murdering special state prosecutor Dana Seetahal, the slain lawyer was being honoured by her alma mater.

Seetahal and seven others were honoured by the Florida State University College of Criminology and Criminal Justice in a memorial service entitled Fallen Officer Memorial Dedication Ceremony.

Among those honoured were Special Agent Livio Beccaccio, FBI (Ret.) United Nations Peace Keeping Agency; Lieutenant Corey Dahlem Gainesville Police Department End; Sgt Daniel “Dale” Green Tallahassee Police Department, Officer Rogerio “Roger” Morales, Davie Police Department, Officer Ernest “Ernie” K Ponce de Leon Tallahassee Police Department; Officer Scott “Scotty” Michael Roberson Central Intelligence Agency; Special Agent Robert “Rob” J Williams US Department of the Treasury Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Tax and Firearms. Those honoured would have graduated between 11 to 54 years ago from the Tallahassee based university. Two of the eight would have graduated in 1988 and one each in 1963, 1977, 1984, 1992, 2006 and Seetahal in 1985. All eight were murdered, Seetahal was shot dead on May 4, 2014 while on her way home.

In 2014, Seetahal’s family refused to accept her posthumous Chaconia Medal (Gold) award, the nation’s second highest award. Seetahal’s sister Susan Francois, who heads the Financial Intelligence Unit, said then that Seetahal had risked her life seeking justice for TT and should have been awarded the highest award, the Order of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. Seetahal’s family did not attend the award ceremony in 2014 but were present at the university’s memorial on Friday.

Ten men are before the courts for her murder– former LifeSport coordinator Rajaee Ali, Devaughn Cummings; Ishmael Ali (brother of Rajaee Ali); Ricardo Stewart; Earl Richards; Gareth Wiseman; Hamid Ali (brother of Rajaee Ali); Kevin Parkinson; Leston Gonzales and Roger Boucher. Last year Director of Public Prosecutions Roger Gaspard discontinued the murder charge against Stephan Cummings and charged him with conspiracy to murder Seetahal. The ten men will return to court on April 6.