'Stickmaster' King David among 4 gunned down in south

A "stickmaster" from Moruga was among four men shot and killed in three separate incidents between Sunday night and early Monday.

Well-known stickfighter Matthew David Brown, 52, died shortly after 8 pm at the home of his common-law wife in St Mary’s Village, Moruga. He was popularly known as Acid and King David.

A double homicide at Mathura Avenue in Penal claimed the lives of Wellington "Zorro" Davidson, 52, and his friend Shazard "Boyie" Mohammed, 29.

The fourth victim remained unidentified up to Monday afternoon. Police found the body with gunshot wounds on Sunday night at Penal Rock Road, Moruga, near a forested area with teak trees.

On the killing of Brown, police said a gunshot was heard and his common-law wife found his body in a chair in the living room.

Brown, a member of the Bois Academy of TT (BATT) and the St Mary’s gayelle, lived alone at Preau Village.

Co-founder of BATT Keegan Taylor hailed Brown as the undisputed champion stick fighter of TT.

"He loved stickfighting and women. He loved to sing and dance. King David entered and won many competitions. He never doubted himself and saw himself as a king, a person who had royal bloodlines," Taylor told Newsday.

"He was a positive person whose confidence never wavered.

"In our last conversation, he said he felt as if he was living in a different place and his body was catching up to where he was. I saw him as a knight, a man with principles.

Saying they had had a close bond, Taylor described Brown as frank.

"He told people things as it is, and some did not like it. He pulled me up a few times."

Rondel Benjamin, the other founder of BATT, referred to Brown as a cultural icon responsible for bringing back kalinda (stickfighting) in the last ten years.

"David is iconic. He is one of last of the true boismen in terms of his ability to render the kalinda dance as it was in the old days. We have lost a source of information and knowledge. I feel as though a library had just been burnt flat to the ground," Benjamin said.

"He was a master craftsman and stickmaker. Keegan and I are very committed to ensuring that David’s work/teaching are properly remembered. He taught kalinda and did school tours. He had compassion and love for people."

Apart from competitions, he participated in documentaries as well as music videos such as Machel Montano’s soca hits Waiting on the Stage and Buss Head – a collaboration with Bunji Garlin.

At his home, relatives including Brown's brothers Michael Brathwaite and Marlon Brown shared fond memories.

Marlon said: "I got the call about 9 pm and came up from Marabella. He always stood for what was right and he loved women."

In the double homicide, police said Davidson and Mohammed, 29, were playing cards at the home of a friend. At about 11. 30 pm on Sunday, the owner went to sleep. Gunshots awakened him about two hours later and he found both of them dead on couches.

Only in April, the owner’s brother Visham "Baby Sham" Ramdeen, who lived in the same home, was gunned down nearby.

Davidson, a mason and father of four, lived at Penal Rock Road and Mohammed, a construction labourer, at Lowkie Trace, both in Penal.

A relative of Davidson, who requested anonymity, said he did not deserve to die in such a way.

"They (killers) did not give life so they should not be taking it," he said.

Mohammed’s niece Salina told Newsday that he left home at about 9 pm on Sunday after a family get-together. Mohammed loved to wear heavy gold jewellery and the killers stole it.

"About 2 am (on Monday), police came to the house with the news.

"He loved to wear gold. He kept to himself and loved to help others. He and Zorro were close friends," Salina said.

"He never got to see his three-month-old daughter in real life. She was born in the US."

No arrests have been made. Autopsies were expected at the Forensic Sciences Centre in St James. Southern, South-western and Homicide Bureau Region III police are investigating.