Kevin's dreams shot down – murdered schoolboy kept list of life goals

DETERMINED not to involve himself in criminal activity, Kevin Kyle Spring began journalling his aspirations in what he labelled as his “Future Book.”

The regular hard-cover notebook was converted to a mobile vision board for the teen who was shot dead on Saturday night.

Spring, of Upper Cemetery Street, Diego Martin, was among three people murdered when gunmen shot four people last Saturday. Police reported that at about 8.25 pm, gunmen opened fire on the group, killing Spring along with his cousin Joseph Spring and Joseph’s friend Rondel John. The fourth man, also Spring’s cousin Rawle Spring is warded at the Port of Spain General Hospital in a serious condition.

Spring’s relatives told Newsday at the Forensic Science Centre on Monday that the teen wanted to become a mechanic and was working with his cousin who is a mechanic to learn the trade.

“At first he wanted to be a DJ but then he was learning mechanics with his cousin. He had a journal where he wrote his dreams in it. He started it when he was in form one.”

Spring, a form-two student of Tranquillity Government Secondary School was initially supposed to have started in-person classes on Monday but owing to his mother’s quarantine order, was scheduled to start next Monday.

His mother Sharma Spring told Newsday in a telephone interview that she recently found out about her son’s journal.

“His cousin helped him with his online classes and was searching through his books and saw one mark ‘Kevin Spring and Bravo Future book. Don’t Touch.’ In it he had what he wanted: a car, an Almera, a six-bedroom house and a phone. He had what he wanted in the house and how he wanted his car, I didn’t even know he knew all that about cars.”

“The main thing is he had a phrase saying, 'We are going to have our own business and that will be fixing and washing cars. By the way we not on no gun thing our life is about cars.'

"His cousins used to tease him and tell him let’s go party but he would say he not on that.”

The journal entry detailed how he wanted his home, a three-storey house with six bedrooms and three bathrooms. The garage was supposed to be "large" and the house air conditioned and painted blue. His dream car would have had two subwoofer speakers with Lamborghini doors. Both the house and car were to be shared with his cousin identified only as "Bravo" in his vision book.

Spring used to wash cars and was known in the community as one of the best to do so. When he was attacked he was just about to wash his murdered cousin’s car. The two buckets of water he filled to do so remained on the spot days after he was killed.

His earnings were going towards buying a cellphone but when his mother was put on quarantine he said he would use the money to help pay for his transport to school.

Relatives believe that the gunmen came for Spring’s cousin Joseph and shot all those who were with him at the time. Relatives said Joseph, who did not live in the area “did people wickedness” in the past and believed that Saturday night’s attack was retribution.

Spring's mother said the 15-year-old had a bright future ahead of him.

"He was very kind and helpful. They did not have to go and do that. He was shot once in the chest at first and he shout out 'Mammy!' And that is all I am hearing now, all hours of the night my son calling out for me,” the mother of two said.

She said she expects to get justice for her first born who did not deserve to be killed.