Shooting survivor, 3, to undergo second surgery

The three-year-old infant who survived Thursday’s shooting which left his mother dead, is expected to undergo a second surgery on Monday.

Cairo Jordan underwent surgery on Saturday at the San Fernando General Hospital. Police said a bullet grazed his left ankle and one of his toes. The bone of his middle toe was protruding.

A relative told Newsday that owing to swelling under his left foot, doctors decided to postpone the second surgery initially scheduled for Sunday to Monday. Up to Sunday afternoon, he was said to be in a stable condition.

The child’s mother, Natalia "Thalia" Cooper, 25, was parking her car in the garage of her home at Third Company Road, Indian Walk in Moruga on Thursday, Old Year’s night, when gunmen opened fire.

Cooper’s two children were in the back seat. The younger son, who is two, escaped unharmed. The children’s father, Kadeem "Natos" Jordan, 27, was similarly gunned down in April 2020 at Pleasantville.

"He (Cairo) was also underneath her. They were very close. He is autistic,” the relative said.

"We (relatives) were supposed to ring in the new year at the home of the boys’ aunt. The family already bought games like Uno and Monopoly for us to play."

Cooper worked as a nail technician at a salon in San Fernando. The mother of two was originally from San Fernando.

After Jordan’s shooting death, the relative said she began receiving death threats and went into hiding in areas in south Trinidad.

She last moved into the house at Third Company Road about two months ago. Few people knew her address, but the killers found her.

"After her boyfriend was killed, people sent death threats to her through other people. I am not sure she reported the threats," the relative said.

"She did not want people to know where she was living because of it. She was always a quiet person."

Police said shortly before 9 pm on Thursday, Cooper was reversing her Nissan Tiida car at the garage, and shooters opened fire. Before she had a chance to park, the car crashed through the garage’s concrete wall at the side of the house.

The killers left in a car. Villagers took the wounded mother and son to the Princes Town District Health Facility, where Cooper died. Her son was transferred to the hospital.

"From what residents are saying, the getaway car was in the area earlier in the day," the bereaved relative said.

"Natalia came out of the car, opened the gate, returned to the car, then the gunmen opened fire, knowing the children were inside."

Earlier in the day, Cooper dropped off her sons at the home of their father's relatives in Pleasantville and went to work. After work, she picked them up and was heading back home when she was killed.

Cooper, relatives said, was not involved in any illegal activities.

Police believe the murders of Jordan and Cooper are linked.

Three gunmen opened fire at Jordan, of Coconut Boulevard in Pleasantville, hitting him in his car at Pleasantville Circular last April.

He died shortly after at the hospital.

Homicide Bureau Region III police are investigating.