San Fernando father shot dead after playing with baby son

FATHER of two Akeem Marlon Newton was at home playing with his 14-month son when a friend called him to lime at a house nearby.

Moments later, Newton, 31, was shot dead outside.

He was killed near his home in Picton Settlement, Diamond Village, San Fernando on Thursday evening. Relatives believe that the young father was lured to his death by his friends.

Newton was shot several times in the head, abdomen, and shoulder. He died on the spot.

A police report said at 4 pm Newton was liming with a group of other men at a house nearby when a man wearing a mask approached.

The man pulled out a gun and shot Newton. The group of limners scattered as Newton fell to the ground. The masked gunman then ran away.

Newton’s uncle Steven Newton said, “He was just inside his home playing with his baby, hugging, kissing him in the living room, and the next moment he is dead.

"This is beyond madness. My nephew did not deserve this.”

Newton was also the father of an 11-year-old daughter. Steven said now his nephew's two children will grow up without a father.

“His children were his world. He worked hard just to provide for his children, to make sure they had what they wanted.”

He said his nephew had already begun making plans for Christmas.

“He already started looking at gifts to buy for his children.

"This wicked human being took a good father from his children. Crime in this country is getting out of hand.”

Steven said the man who came to tell his nephew to lime with him that night had shown up earlier, while Newton was in the bathroom.

“It was very strange, because this man even asked his wife how long she thought that he would be in the bathroom. Then the man said he would return. He did return while (Newton) was with his son and asked him to lime with him down the road.”

Newton, he said kissed his son and wife Shanice Alexander, telling them he was going down the road to lime. That was the last time they saw him alive.

“Clearly it was a setup.

"We just want justice for this senseless killing. I want the police to find the person who did this and put them behind bars. Justice must be served. No, no, Marlon did not deserve this.”

He said he was not aware of any threats against Newton’s life.

“There are people in this area who are involved in a life of crime, but he was not like that. You can ask anyone. He went to work and back home. He would lime now and then and just ole talk, then most of the time he would be with his kids liming.”

Newton worked as a labourer in construction but relatives said he was also a qualified accountant. They described him as hard-working.

An autopsy was expected to be done on his body at the Forensic Science Centre on Friday.

Homicide Region Three police are investigating.