Double tragedy for Penal family – Woman dies hours after son, nephew gunned down

A PENAL family is reeling from multiple tragedies that occurred within hours on Wednesday night.

In the first tragedy to befall the family, cousins Gerald Felix and Mario De Leon were gunned down outside the Felix family's Dookie Street home on Wednesday night. Then during the pre-dawn hours on Thursday, Gerald's mother Cecelia died at the San Fernando General Hospital from what family suspect to be dengue fever, owing to her extremely low blood platelet count.

Felix who celebrated her 90th birthday on September 28, is said to have died without knowing that her son and nephew were both murdered, as she was brought to the hospital earlier on Wednesday by Gerald, who after returning home, was later shot dead.

When Newsday arrived at the family home on Thursday morning, wails and screams could be clearly heard as the family struggled to deal with the reality of the double tragedy that befell them.

One by one, other relatives and friends arrived at the house and were ushered in, no doubt to commiserate and try and console the grief-stricken relatives.

A relative who asked not to be identified, said that even as they were still trying to process the violence that occurred outside the house on Wednesday, came the news of Cecelia's passing. She first took ill on September 30 with a high fever and body pains.

The relative said that when Cecelia's condition began to deteriorate on Wednesday, her son Gerald took her for medical treatment and she was subsequently warded at hospital.

Police said that at about 7.10 pm on Wednesday, Felix, 55, a water pump repairman and De Leon, 45, a bar owner, were standing outside Felix's home when a man wearing a hoodie walked up to De Leon and shot him twice in the head. He fell to the ground and died at the scene. Felix, who tried to run off, was also shot multiple times by the gunman who then ran off.

Felix was taken to the Siparia Health Centre by his son where he died about an hour after the incident, while receiving treatment.

Dozens of curious onlookers gathered along the street following the shooting incident. They gawked at De Leon's body while crime scene as investigators processed the scene.

Among those in the crowd was Gerald's niece Abigail who told Newsday her family was in deep shock on hearing the news of her uncle's murder. "He was a good man, he didn't deserve to die like that," she said. Investigators were at the scene up to 10 pm on Wednesday.

On Thursday, a person who claimed to have witnessed the shooting, told this reporter that it appeared that De Leon was the intended target given that he was shot first and also at point blank range. He was shot near the front gate of the Felix family home.

The eyewitness said the gunman then ran after Felix who tried to flee, chasing him across the road. Already wounded by the shooting, Felix, the eyewitness said, raised his bloodied hands in a sign of surrender but the gunmen still fired bullets into him. The eyewitness said Felix was shot about five times.

The eyewitness said the incident happened so suddenly and since the gunman was wearing a hoodie, he could not get a good look at the killer.

Police sources said that crime scene investigators retrieved 12 spent nine-millimetre calibre shells.

Another relative said that Felix had just returned home after spending the day at hospital with his mother when he was killed. "Look nah, it wasn't even ah good hour yet, after he reached home from hospital, when he was shot dead. That real hard boy," the relative said.

The relative said Felix did not deserve to die this way and that just as his mother passed away never knowing her son and nephew were killed, Felix too, died without knowing that his mother also did not survive.

The relative said that De Leon, although related, hardly ever visited the Felix household although he lived not too far away at the corner of Bhupsingh and Winter streets. The relative said De Leon decided to pay a visit on Wednesday to enquire about his aunt's health after he heard she had been warded.

Up to press time, no arrest was made and investigations are ongoing.