Man, 24, detained for killing Parliament clerk

A 24-YEAR-OLD labourer has been arrested in connection with the shooting death of Mariana "Marie" Moonisar last August when her father survived a gunshot wound to his left cheek.

Police arrested the suspect, who lives at Claxton Bay, yesterday. He remains in police custody up to today.

Moonisar worked as an administrative clerk at the Parliament. She was single and had no children.

On August 3 at about 5.30 pm, two gunmen shot at the Nissan Tiida she was driving to her home from work. Moonisar was shot in the head on Esperanza Road in Couva, a short drive from the family’s home at George Street. Her father, Roopchan "Chippy" Moonisar, 56, was in the front seat and received a gunshot wound to his left cheek. He underwent emergency surgery at the San Fernando General Hospital where doctors removed a bullet.

The morning of the killing, a villager reported that he heard gunshots the same area. The villager felt certain both shootings were no coincidence.

Moonisar would have celebrated her 29th birthday last December 10.

Police investigators had interviewed several people, including a policeman, last year in an attempt to solve the crime. No one has ever been charged for the killing. Police from Homicide Bureau Region III are investigating.