Father of three gunned down in Sangre Grande

The relatives of a slain Sangre Grande man said he dedicated his life to his children after he was gunned down outside his home on Tuesday night.

Police said Brian Bennett, 37, was at his Sugars Lane, Blake Avenue, home on Damarie Hill, with two friendS at around 8.10 pm when he stepped outside for some fresh air.

As soon as he went outside, the friends heard several gunshots.

They hid inside and called the police.

Officers of the Eastern Division Task Force and the Sangre Grande CID were called in with a district medical officer and declared Bennett dead.

Investigators found several spent shells at the scene.

Sources said Bennett worked as a labourer for the Ministry of Works and Transport in Sangre Grande.

No motive has been established for Bennett's murder.

Speaking with Newsday at the Forensic Science Centre, St James, on Wednesday, Bennett's relatives who asked not to be named said they did not know why anyone would want him killed and remembered him as a "giving person" who worked hard to support his three children ages three, five and seven-years-old.

"He has small children, everything was for his children.

"If you ask him, he would say he building his house for his children, he bought his car for his children, he was saving money for his children."

On January 8, gunmen stormed a house on Blake Avenue, Sangre Grande, killing six-year-old Kylie Meloney and wounding three others including her mother Akeeila Meloney.

Asked her feelings about crime and violence in Blake Avenue, one relative said she felt the new generation of criminals were different in their aggression towards others.

"He never complained about anybody threatening him.

"He never had any run-ins with the law or anything like that.

"We living in fear obviously.

"How much can we take?

"It's really shocking because we don't know him to be involved in anything.

"Everybody who called us to extend condolences kept asking what he did to deserve this."

Bennett's murder brought the murder toll to 163 for the year thus far compared to 141 for the same period last year.

There have been 22 murders for the month of April thus far.

Police said they have been working to try and quell violence in different parts of Sangre Grande through more directed patrols and community engagement.

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