Military rites for murdered Air Guard corporal

DESPITE having to limit military funeral traditions because of the covid19 pandemic, 33-year-old Air Guard corporal Sowande Osei Morean was laid to rest following a funeral with full military rites at the Clarke and Battoo funeral Chapel on Tragarete Road.

Only a few family members gathered for the service in keeping with set covid19 restrictions on public gatherings. After the service loved ones went to the military cemetery on Long Circular Road where Morean was laid to rest.

The military had to cancel the usual procession along Long Circular Road, but military personnel formed up at the entrance to the cemetery and held a short procession to the burial site.

Loved ones gathered outside the cemetery were asked to observe social distancing rules and congregate in groups of less than ten so as not to contravene covid19 restrictions.

When his casket was taken out of the hearse at the cemetery’s entrance, Morean’s wife Maria had to be physically supported as she began to weep. Morean was honoured with a 21-gun salute.

Laventille East/Morvant MP Adrian Leonce lamented on the death of his cousin saying despite many rumours, Morean’s passing had dealt a heavy blow to the family.

“It is a sad thing. But we have to be real, crime is a real thing in our society. Unfortunately, we have people in our society who are criminally minded, but it is only when it falls on your doorstep that you recognise the evil it has out there,” Leonce said.

At about 12.10 am two Fridays ago, police responded to a report of a shooting at Escallier Terrace off Pitman Lane in Gonzales, Belmont. They later found Morean with gunshot wounds in the front porch of a house. He had been shot in the face and chest.

Police took him to the Port of Spain General Hospital where he died while undergoing emergency surgery. Up to press time, there was no arrest in Morean’s murder.