Collateral damage of gang violence

WHETHER a victim of gang violence was believed to be guilty or innocent, their loved ones hurt. And the emotions they experience in these circumstances are just as varied as the ways they choose to express them. From echoes of a gun salute and heart-wrenching screams, to obscenities being loudly hurled – many sounds make up the symphony of grief.

Newsday spoke to three people who lost loved ones to gang violence. They all wished to remain anonymous and did not want to give other identifying personal details of themselves or their relatives. These are their stories.

'It was only a matter of time'

A woman from East Trinidad recalled several years of living in fear that she would be targeted because of her brother's gang affiliation.

Even now, a year after his death, that fear remains.

She was upset when she heard he had been killed. He was shot four times while asleep in bed by someone he considered a close friend.

"I felt angry – more angry than sad, because this could've been avoided...We all tried talking to him and trying to get him to do something constructive."

She said she repeatedly begged him to leave that life behind, and for a while, he was “really trying” to turn his life around.

But the 23-year-old’s world came "tumbling down" after their other brother was killed, for which he blamed himself.

That brother was not in a gang, but instead, "collateral damage" for the other – the very scenario she was terrified of.

“It never left him. He blamed himself because (our other brother) went to support him at (an event), where he was eventually killed, and that truly messed him up.”

The man was then killed just six months later.

“He was a bit hot-headed and used to get himself in a lot of trouble," his sister recalled.

She said while he never let the children in the family see a bad side of him, he was “always angry on the outside.

“He didn't know how to settle himself and relax. He always thought he had to put up a fight or a wall for everything.”

But she said when it came to his family, he was loving, respectful and kindhearted.

“At family gatherings, etc, he would never pass by without giving everyone a hug and kiss. He loved his nephews and nieces.”

A close family friend of the victim shared similar sentiments.

"He may have been a gang member and a menace to some people in the community, but with his family, he was not the monster other people may have seen," she told Newsday.

She said her awareness of his lifestyle did not make the news of his death any less painful.

But she added, "I knew it was only a matter of time before someone killed him...

"Although we were relatively close, I never invited or encouraged him to come to my home, because we all know how gang members operate – they come for their target and will slaughter everyone in the house if they have to."

The man's sister said although she had spent years dreading the news of his death, the circumstances of his killing caught her off guard.

"I always felt that would've been the outcome had he not settled down himself. However, the way in which he was killed was a total surprise to us, as it was by the hands of his 'close friend.'"

Since his lifestyle was known to the community, she said few people were sympathetic about his death.

"...Even though he was never really a pest to the community.

"And despite (his lifestyle), he didn't deserve to die the way he did."

She added that none of his friends contacted the family after his killing, either.

"If anyone would've contacted the family, it would've been via our mother. This was due to the fact that we, the other family members, wanted nothing to do with those so-called friends or associates."

She misses her brother's hugs and his smile.

"The way he would come and visit us – the house would instantly turn into laughter and wildness with the kids. Every minute, I would have to tell them to quiet down because of the neighbours."

She thinks gang culture and violence are “getting out of hand” in TT and believes everyone has a part to play in combating them.

“I think that we need to do more for our youths. Starting from primary school, we need to go into the schools and talk to them. Don't wait for when they reach secondary school, because by then it would be too late.

“We need to be good parents and love our kids right. Show them so much love that they don't have to go outside to look for it, because they would only find the opposite. We need to give our kids second chances because we all make mistakes; because we are only humans.”

She said while there are opportunities for youth advancement, there are also hurdles some face in pursuit of it. She added that it is especially difficult for reformed criminals to get job opportunities.

“No employer would want to hire him once he have a case pending – a case that would take years to conclude.

"So what do you think he would be doing in the interim? Because now we have a frustrated youthman who don't get the love and support from home, who don't have money to support his vice, or even to buy something to eat…”

'I wanted revenge'

A man who wished not to be named recalled the varying emotions he felt when his 35-year-old cousin, a known gang member, was killed. His cousin had just started turning his life around, after years of pleas from their family.

He said he felt sadness, anger and rage as he rushed from his workplace to the crime scene in East Trinidad after being told the news by phone.

A gunman had walked up to him outside his home and shot him dead.

“I was stunned…I was driving and trying to process what (the relative who told me) said.

“When I reached there, he was on the ground bleeding out. Just seeing that, I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy.”

He said his cousin had been shot at before, but was only grazed by the bullet.

Despite not being involved in the same lifestyle as his cousin, the man told Newsday it was then he understood the desire for reprisal killings in such circumstances.

“I was crying, I was angry and I wanted revenge. If, in that moment, someone pointed out who (killed him) to me, I was pulling the trigger for them.”

Asked if, given his cousin's previous lifestyle, he always dreaded such a day would arrive, he candidly said, "I don't know...

"Maybe I was being optimistic that he'd be able to get out and leave it behind. But because of his past, I knew it was a possibility."

They had minimal interactions in public, as his cousin sought to prevent his family from being targeted owing to his lifestyle.

“If I was out and I saw him, he wouldn’t stop and talk to me. He didn't want people to know we were related.”

His cousin was regularly in and out of jail, which took a financial toll on the family.

He had admitted he would sometimes purposely commit certain offences to go to prison, almost as if it were a safe house, whenever his life was under threat. He would say he "needed to go inside" for a while because "outside was too hot."

“We spend real money bailing him out – this, that, lawyer…I was always wondering, ‘Is it worth it?’

“We tried to get him out (of that lifestyle) and one time he told me: ‘Two more people have to dead for me to get out completely.’"

It was unclear whether he was the one meant to do the killing.

The man recalled a time his cousin showed him a gun at his house, saying he needed it for protection.

He said his cousin came from a broken home, which he still believes played a part in his turning to a life of crime.

“(To his family) he was kind, would give…but there was a nasty side to him. He would trip off during arguments sometimes.”

Conflict resolution was not his strongest suit.

“He never really had proper reasoning (when conflict arose). He would just trip.”

He could not say whether any of his cousin's gang affiliates and friends were at his funeral to show support.

"I don't really know his gang friends...We never condoned that lifestyle."

He still thinks about his cousin from time to time.

But on the overall gang scene in TT, he said while he understands the emotions associated with desiring revenge killings, "It does not make sense, at the end of the day. It’s just a cycle. Everybody wants to get a bigger payback. You shoot me, I shoot your mother and you shoot mine…It keeps going and going. It is not bringing back anybody.”

'My uncle was innocent'

Another man told Newsday weeks after his uncle was kidnapped in east Port of Spain, a known gang leader was seen regularly driving his car in the area.

After his uncle had been missing for several months, his body was eventually found dumped in a mangrove. He had died from a single gunshot wound to the chest.

Initially, his family thought he had gone for a brief getaway or vacation and did not want to be disturbed, as this was not uncommon. But as the days passed, that assumption faded.

In tears as he recalled the incident, the man said, “He (my uncle) was really loving, kind, helped keep order in the family...”

His uncle had just landed a prominent job and was making a name for himself professionally. He said he looked up to him, and so did many others in the community.

He said he remains certain his uncle was not involved in a life of crime.

“A lot of times here, when people see you coming up (excelling) like he was, they get jealous and want to harm you.”

He said the family had been desperately hoping they would at least find his body, as by then, they had despaired of his being found alive. He described it as a haunting and traumatising experience.

After sighing deeply and staring at the ceiling in silence for a brief moment, he added, “Nothing ever came of it. Nobody was ever charged.”

His uncle's community gave him a posthumous award him for "long and outstanding contributions" to his community.