Relatives question police killing in Vegas, Morvant

Relatives of Ricardo Martin are raising questions over his death after he was killed by men in uniform on Ash Wednesday.

While speaking to Newsday at the Forensic Science Centre in St James, Martin’s mother, Vanessa Charles, said that she was shown video footage of men dressed in what would seem to be police uniforms, executing her son.

“He was at home when he got a call to go across the road,” she said. “That was when the police approached him. There is a video where the police are surrounding him but I am not sure what they are doing because the video is blurry.”

The video depicted several men in dark uniforms gathered in bushes. Another video, shot moments after the first, depicted the same men in dark uniforms dragging Martin’s lifeless body down a flight of stairs toward a police vehicle. In the second video the men could be seen wearing tactical uniforms.

A resident in the area also claimed that Martin was in the area when he saw the men in the dark uniforms and ran off. The men gave chase and shot Martin in his foot. After that, they surrounded him and one of the uniformed men shot him in his back.

A police report said officers of the North Eastern Division Task Force were conducting investigations following the shooting death of 38-year-old Elvis Anthony Pearson and 30-year-old Brad Keon Thomas who were murdered in Second Caledonia on Tuesday. The police went to the area and approached Martin, but he allegedly shot at them. Police said they returned fire hitting Martin several times. They said he was then taken to hospital where he was pronounced dead.

Police later claimed that they found an AR 15 high-powered rifle at the scene of the alleged shootout.

On Friday, Charles described her son as a constructive person. She said he was a father of two. She also added that he made it a point to stay out of the area when things got “hot.”

“Apparently he already knew that the place was getting hot. There was a lot of criminal activity and police action in the area. Sometimes he goes across to Maloney by relatives when things get overheated because he doesn’t want to get involved in anything like that.”

She said that two weeks ago, he was arrested along with another man on possession of a firearm, but he was later released. She admitted that he would sell weed to make ends meet but, outside of that, he was not involved in any criminal activity.

“He didn’t have a permanent job, but if he got a little end of work to do he would do it. He was waiting to be called on a construction job.”

“He was constructive and pleasant,” Charles said. “He did not involve himself in this kind of lifestyle. He didn’t follow friends. If he knew they were involved in that kind of thing, he would be on his way out.”

Police Complaints Authority director David West told Newsday that all incidents of police-involved shooting were investigated by the PCA.

“We always ask the public to come forward with whatever information you have regarding the police shooting or any other incident. We'll do an investigation and, at the end of the investigation, we will make a determination whether or not any recommendations should or shouldn't be made to the DPP or the police.”

There have been 12 police-involved killings for the year.