Relatives of Point Fortin soldier shot by cop seek closure

DAFFORT Miller wept bitterly on Father’s Day as he looked at a photograph of his dead son Keverne Miller who was a corporal in the TT Regiment.

The image conjured up the memory which has been haunting Daffort for the past five months – his second child being shot five times by a Special Reserve Police officer at his (Daffort’s) Reservoir Hill, Point Fortin home on January 15.

Friends and relatives, including soldiers and police officers, were celebrating the 24th birthday of Miller’s son PC Jeron Flanders when tragedy struck.

There was a disturbance and 43-year-old Miller, who lived at Lake View, Point Fortin, went to his parent’s home when he was shot.

Police are claiming he was the aggressor.

Daffort, who was speaking to his son when died, said the image of Miller being shot in his back and falling along with him has been playing in his mind like a stuck record every night he hits his bed.

“Every time I go to bed at nights it just keeps playing in my head over and over again,” the grieving dad told Newsday on Sunday.

“Had he been alive, today he would have been here and we would have been celebrating like a family. If he was working, he would have called just like my son from the United States called me this morning to wish me happy Father’s Day.

“When my son from the US called, a photo of my dead son in his full army clothes appeared on the screen. That hit me hard.

“I can’t describe how I feel. It’s every day I feel that pain. It’s the way my son died and after five months we can’t get any closure.”

Daffort’s wife Annie also broke down during the interview saying, “Today is not a good day for us.”

Miller was the father of four boys and one girl. Annie said the children have been devastated and his youngest, a seven-year-old, is still harbouring the illusion that his father would ride up on his motorbike anytime soon.

“June 15 would have marked five months since my son was killed and no one is telling us anything. The police and the Police Complaints Authority (PCA) have come to our home, taken statements, measurements, but the SRP who shot my son is walking free.

“I don’t want this investigation to be swept under the carpet. My son’s death must not be in vain. I want those children to get justice for their father. I want to get justice for my son. He did nothing wrong.”