3 murders in 24 hours – Prisons officer gunned down

OFF-DUTY prisons officer Trevor Serrette was executed at his fruit stall on Friday afternoon.

Police said that at about 1.30 pm, Serrette, of La Seiva Road, Sangre Grande was at his business along the Eastern Main Road in Valencia when he was ambushed and killed.

Serrette, a Prisons Officer II, assigned to the Maximum Security Prison, Arouca, was with a relative when a gunman came out of an AD stationwagon and opened fire. The relative was unharmed. The gunman got back in the car which drove off.

A National Operations Council (NOC) helicopter circled the crime scene overhead when Newsday visited. There were heavily armed police and prisons officers at the scene, some standing guard near Serrette’s family who arrived shortly after the killing.

The killing caused traffic along the Eastern Main Road and the Valencia Bypass Road leading into Sangre Grande as motorist slowed to get a glimpse of the crime scene.

A media release from the prisons service quoted Prisons Commissioner Dennis Pulchan describing Serrette's murder as "cowardly and heinous."

The release added that an emergency meeting was called with the police as Pulchan called on prison officers to be alert and exercise caution.

Commenting on the killing, president of the Prison Officers' Association (POA) Ceron Richards described the killing as a "cold-blooded hit."

"He was brutally murdered, make no mistake this was no robbery. His life was just snuffed out.

"We have been saying everything we can on this issue year in year out we have been very consistent with the things we have put forward to the state and other stakeholders we will be meeting as an executive to discuss this issue further and I will say no more until I meet with the executive."

Serrette's murder was one of three that took place between Thursday night and Friday afternoon.

Hours earlier, Akeba “Slugga 6” Hunte, of Emerald Circular, Bon Air Gardens, Arouca, was shot dead in St James.

Police said that around 9.45 am, residents of Upper Dibe, Long Circular Road, St James, reported hearing gunshots.

Officers of the Western Division Task Force responded and found Hunte’s body. Police said the killing was gang related.

On Thursday night, Akeem Alexander, 30, of Nimblette Street, Enterprise, Chaguanas was killed while his friend and a five-year-old were injured. The three killings took the murder toll to 404 as of Friday afternoon.