Cop’s son gunned down in New Grant

Damion Blackwell, the son of a policewoman who was chased and gunned down at home on Monday night, was the apple of her eye, and the shooting death has wrecked the family.

Blackwell’s mother, WPC Judy Revallo, is based at the Homicide Bureau of Investigations (Region III).

One of her close female relatives said the mother and son shared a close bond.

“She made many sacrifices to ensure he got the best education. She was proud of all his achievements. He was her firstborn and the apple of her eye. She would have done anything for him, and she withheld nothing from him,” the relative said.

She asked to remain unnamed.

“They made promises to each other. Damion always promised to make sure she was happy and comfortable. She was always there for him. Her two other children are in a mess,” she said.

Blackwell worked as an orderly at the San Fernando General Hospital and was a second-year electrical engineering student at the University of TT. He was a former student of Barrackpore West Secondary School.

The shooting happened at Sixth Company Village in New Grant, near Moruga, where he lived with his father, Anslem “Preacher” Blackwell.

A police report said Blackwell was in the yard washing his car at around 9 pm when a gunman approached and started shooting at him.

The wounded, bleeding Blackwell ran inside with the gunman following him. He shot Blackwell several times in the house, killing him, before running off.

His immediate family, friends, and residents of Sixth Company Village hailed him as a role model in the community.

They said the murder baffled them as he was not known to have any enemies and was ambitious.

“He was a very respectable and very quiet child. Damion was a high achiever. He never wasted time. At the age of 16, he was already working. He worked several places like Dairy Queen, Pizza Hut, and Motorway Auto Supplies Ltd in Craignish Village,” a relative who asked to remain unnamed said on Tuesday.

Relatives who gathered at the family’s home in New Grant said Blackwell spent the weekend at his mother’s home in Princes Town.

“He went to work on Monday morning. After work, he checked on his (paternal) grandmother before coming home. The shooting happened about half an hour after he reached,” the relative added.

Blackwell’s father is a well-respected churchgoer in the community. He also has another child.

Blackwell’s paternal grandmother Linda Blackwell who lives a stone’s throw away in New Grant, is an elder in the Mt Carmel Independent Baptist Church.

While the news came as a shock, in hindsight, his grandmother had a premonition two nights earlier.

Relatives told Newsday that she was in the house when she heard what sounded like a gunshot.

She asked other people in the house about it, and they said no, paying no mind at the time.

A female relative called on other mothers not to support their criminal relatives.

“Some parents have children with guns living with them. Some children bring all kinds of stuff at home that do not belong there. Parents need to speak out. Get help for those who need help. Parents, do not condone that behaviour from your children,”

“No one can say anything bad about Damion. Human life is not like the life of a chicken or goat. The life of man is precious, and there is no coming back. When people are gone, that is it. There is no coming back.”

The police do not have a motive, and the search was ongoing for the killer on Tuesday evening.

Several police have offered their condolences to their bereaved colleague.

Investigations are ongoing.