Morvant man shot dead over chadon beni

A day's work took a deadly turn for a 47-year-old Morvant labourer after he was gunned down for accidentally cutting a man's chadon beni plant on Friday morning.

Police said Bryan Belgrave was cutting grass and weeds at the side of the road on First Caledonia, Morvant, at around 10 am, when he accidentally cut the plant.

The owner saw what happened, went inside, got a gun, and shot Belgrave before running away.

Neighbours heard the gunshot, called the police and took Belgrave to the Port of Spain General Hospital where he was declared dead.

Newsday visited the area and spoke with a policeman who said he was surprised by the nature of the murder.

"It's not to say it was a gang killing or anything.

"It was over chadon beni.

"It's really sad and unusual how this whole thing happened. "

The officer also said the suspect was not known to them.

Newsday spoke to one of Belgrave's relatives, who lives in the area, who said she and the family were saddened by the murder.

"He (Belgrave) was a church-going guy.

"Never in anyone's business or causing trouble.

"If you look around, this is a quiet area. So this is what makes all of this so hard to believe."

Newsday also spoke to a resident who remembered Belgrave as a hard-working but easy going man.

"I couldn't believe what happened this morning.

"This is a really quiet, family community on this side of Morvant.

"But the guy who they said did the shooting, people know him as being kind of ignorant but we never thought he would do something like this."

Up to 12.30 pm on Friday, the suspect remained on the run.

Police from the Homicide Bureau of Investigations Region II are continuing equiries.