Murder victim's father forced to hide sons from gunmen

A 63-year-old man who lost his son to gang activity and violence is now calling for crime to come to an end before gunmen claim the life of his other son.

Raymond Pena, the father of Isiah “Monk” James, a 23-year-old man who was shot dead on Tuesday spoke to Newsday on Thursday at the Forensic Science Center in St James. He said he had been hiding his sons from gunmen after one was thought to be a witness to a murder.

“I had to move out my two sons from Morvant and sacrifice and looked for places for them to rent to keep them safe,” he said.

Reports indicated that James was at LP 34, Thompson Trace, Laventille Road Ext, when at about 6.10 pm, three gunmen approached him and opened fire. He tried to escape by running into a house but the gunmen chased him and shot him multiple times before escaping.

James was taken to the Port of Spain General Hospital where he died.

Pena admitted that James was affiliated with gang members and said he spoke to his sons frequently about the people they associated with.

“They used to lime with gangs. And you know when you are liming with men in gangs they tell you that you are affiliated to the gang too. I used to talk to them about doing that.”

Pena told Newsday that James had two matters before the court for robbery, and another for possession of an illegal amount of marijuana and ammunition.

Newsday asked if he sought out protection from the police and he said he hadn’t, because he didn’t trust their ability to protect his sons.

“Sometimes you ask for these things and the police just leaves it for something like this to happen.

“Then when it happens, they come to investigate. I tried as best as I could to protect my children until this came and happened.”

He now fears for the life of his second son whom he did not wish to name, adding that he was already shot on two occasions last year.

Pena called on parents to continue talking to their children to keep them out of the grip of gang activity.

“They know what their children are doing but some but some of them that can't control their child again because they've reached a stage where they are too deep in it already.

“For me, I have to fight now. I lost one son. I have to make sure the next one is safe.”