GUNMEN DON'T CARE – grandmother of murdered Grande girl, 6, speaks out

As she continues to grapple with the reality of losing her granddaughter, Tisha Maloney is lamenting the spate of murders in TT, and the disregard for human life by criminals.

Maloney's six-year-old granddaughter Kylie Maloney was killed during an attack at the family's Blake Avenue, Damarie Hill, Sangre Grande, home early on Sunday morning.

Police said Kylie's mother Akeeila Maloney, 25, Kevon Lucas, 34 and Dexter Trotman, 45, were also wounded in the attack.

Newsday was told that the attackers wore military-style clothing and identified themselves as police officers.

Last year, several children were killed in shootings, including three-year-old Nazim Owen in Diego Martin in October and nine-year-old Jamal Modeste in Enterprise, Chaguanas.

Asked to comment on the spate of killings involving children, Maloney said these incidents were unacceptable.

"It's sad, it's really sad now, it's too much of guns and children are the target. They don't care again."

Maloney also said it was difficult to accept her granddaughter's murder.

"I can't believe it. I really can't believe Kylie gone.

"I watching the bed, I can't sleep.

"It's really hard, it's really hard. We're just happy we're getting through with the procedure fast so we can bury her as soon as possible."

Maloney said Kylie attended the Sangre Grande Seventh Day Adventist Primary School and dreamed of being a doctor.

"She was bright, very smart. She loved to dance and sing, she was always jolly.

"She said she wanted to be a doctor.

"She was always with some doctor kit."

Up to Monday afternoon no one was held for Kylie's murder.

Senior police in the Eastern Division said while the murder of anyone was tragic, the murder of a child was especially heinous and vowed to increase their focus in finding the killers.

"It's an appalling thing because we're supposed to protect the vulnerable in society, especially women and children so it's a hard blow to the community especially to us in law enforcement.

"We, the Eastern Division police pledge to work assiduously to bring the perpetrators to justice together with our colleagues in the Homicide Bureau of Investigations."

Speaking at a media conference on Monday at the Diplomatic Centre, St Ann's, Port of Spain, the Prime Minister said, "It doesn't make very many criminals to make a country of 1.3 million people uncomfortable.

"These criminals have fathers, uncles, cousins, I appeal to the country if you know something, say something. Imagine, a six-year-old child falling prey to somebody who believe they have a right to go to somebody's door, where your home is supposed to be your castle, blow it down, go inside, and shoot up whoever they want to inside there, to settle whatever score they want to settle.

"We should be concerned about the types of weaponry being used to carry out these outrages.

"I don't know if you're noticing that frequently in recent times, the bulk of those killings or the breaking through of doors involve firearms of the heavier types that came on the scene in recent times. And we're now seeing at crime scenes where more than one person is being hurt or killed, the prevalence of ammunition that was at one time very scarce in this country, which at one time could only have been found at the range in Chaguaramas."

Dr Rowley said criminals had decided that crime pays, and it was up to government with the assistance of the population to stop them.

In a media release on Monday, the UNC condemned Kylie's murder and called on society to combine their efforts to bring an end to the murders.

The release also criticised the inadequacies of the criminal justice system and accused the government of failing to protect children from criminals.

"Our children are being cold-bloodedly slaughtered by criminals, who are allowed to run free by a broken national security system, to wreak havoc and death.

"(Prime Minister Dr) Keith Rowley's hard-hearted and belligerent defence of (National Security Minister Fitzgerald) Hinds, and refusing to do all in his power to take control or get a handle of this runaway murder spree in our country, puts the blood of innocent children on Rowley’s hands.

"For the sake of our people – and especially our children – Keith Rowley, Fitzgerald Hinds, and the entire government have to go, in the soonest possible time," the release said.

The UNC also promised to deal with the crime issue if they are returned to office.
(With reporting by Paula Lindo.)