Parent of slain teen insists: He was ambushed

The mother of 19-year-old Wayne Roy Samuel, who was killed during an alleged confrontation with police in Cocorite yesterday claims he was repeatedly targeted by officers of the Western Division.

Speaking with Newsday at the Forensic Science Centre, St James, this morning, Samuel's mother, Alison Samuel says at around 9 pm her son left the family's Upper Cocorite Terrace home to go down the hill to meet someone.

She said shortly after leaving, she heard gunfire and upon checking saw a policeman, out of uniform, near her son's body.

She said while she could not confirm whether her son had a firearm on him, as indicated in earlier reports, she insisted he did not provoke or present a threat to the officer.

"They wanted to kill him for a while now. They kept harassing him and then this came and happened. I have my suspicions about their account of what happened."

Samuel was taken to the St James District Medical Facility where he was pronounced dead on arrival.

The elder Samuel said she did not want to talk about her son's past experiences with the police and said he was a welder who wanted a better life.