Family claims police targeted relative who was shot dead

A 68-YEAR-OLD woman is mourning the loss of her youngest child who was shot dead by police in Couva on Friday morning. Despite her sorrow, the woman said she was also feeling anger and confusion as she and her family say they have been getting “differing accounts” as to what happened.

Ann Newark told Newsday her 26-year-old son Zethari was no saint and over the years, had occasionally gotten into trouble for “petty thefts and robbery. “No rape, no murder, no drugs. Just petty thefts. We not going to sit here and say ‘He was a good boy’ and that he wasn’t a pest,” she said.

She said the last message she received from him was sent at 11.22 pm on Thursday when she messaged telling him it’s time he came home. His response was, “Ok.” But at 3.15 am, Newark said she woke up to bright lights near her Mary Street, Couva home and the sound of people running.

“I wasn’t thinking nothing of it, not knowing it was my son trying to reach inside and they picked him up here. They didn’t pick him up in any home invasion, they killed him. They murdered my son,” she cried. Relatives said they were initially told that Zethari was shot in the middle of an attempted home invasion.

The family then heard a different story from the police that when officers saw Zethari standing by a vehicle in which three other men were inside, he pulled out a firearm and shot at the police before running into nearby bushes. Relatives said when they asked the police about the other men in the car, officers did not respond.

When Newsday called the Couva Police Station on Friday afternoon, police said they had no information about any home invasion in the area. Newark said her son was shot three times in his chest and twice in the face. One of the bullets went into his right cheek and exited from his left. The family said they got yet another version of events, this time with Zethari being shot during a high-speed chase following a home invasion and robbery.

Newark said her son was the father of a five-year-old boy who lives in San Juan with his (the boy) mother.

Zethari’s sister Sadie claimed that he was released from prison in January after spending two years inside for attempted robbery. He was doing odd jobs in the community to earn money.

She claimed that since his release, Zethari was being targeted by the police. An autopsy is expected to be done on Monday at the Forensic Science Centre in St James.