[UPDATED] 19-yr-old killed in Belmont

“I feel like they possibly killed him because they don't like his aura, he was straightforward…” said Ayana Cumberbatch-Barrow, mother of 19-year-old Shundell Barrow.

The teen was shot 20 times just after midnight on October 13 near his father’s home in Gonzales.

She believes her son was killed because he refused to join a gang.

“They couldn’t turn him and twist him how they wanted, so they take him off the earth.”

Cumberbatch-Barrow said death threats were sent to Barrow three weeks before he was killed. She said he went into hiding temporarily with friends in Penal and Couva after an incident when a man chased him through Harpe Place, and reports were made to the police, but nothing was done.

She said she warned her son not to go into certain areas, since he was a clear target, but he did not listen.

“If he had listened he would still be here today.”

While she said her son was mischievous and got into fights, she maintained he was never involved in gang activity or gun violence.

"My child never hold a gun. Mischief? Yes, mischief. Fight? Yes. Hold a gun? Never hold a gun. He never thief, he never rob…It have no 'gang-related' here, my child died innocent…when they found him, you know what he had in his pocket? Just his bank card."

Cumberbatch-Barrow heard the shots that killed her son while she was on the phone with her daughter, who lived with him. She immediately began asking her son's whereabouts. When told he was not at home, she began to fear the worst.

Earlier that day, Barrow tried to collect his stipend from the AC installation programme he was doing at the Civilian Conservation Corps, but was unsuccessful. He told his father he was going to visit some friends from primary school who lived on Laventille Road.

He was killed as he made his way back home from the lime.

His father also heard the shots and then received a phone call informing him that his son had been shot on Vincent Brown Street, Belmont, near Lange and Leotaud Streets.

He went to the area and took Barrow to the Port of Spain General Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 12.42am.

Police said 28 9mm spent shells casing were found at the scene.

His mother was in tears as she described the experience of seeing her child’s dead body and having to bury him.

“Yesterday I talked to Shundell on video call. He looked so nice, he plait up his hair…This is no mother’s pain to go through, I wouldn't wish this on my worst enemy.

“It’s too much crime. I’m fed up with this crime thing. Every day a mother have to bawl for she child…I never know this would’ve come to my door.”

Cumberbatch-Barrow described her son as a child “full of love” and said he will be missed by many people.

With reporting by Mya Quake

This story has been adjusted to include additional details. See original post below.

THE mother of 19-year-old murder victim Shundell Barrow said her son was killed by gangs in the Gonzales area.

Barrow was killed outside his home on the night of October 13.

Ayana Cumberbatch-Barrow said Barrow had received death threats three weeks ago and had been pursued by someone intent on killing him two weeks before his death.

Speaking to Newsday at the St James Forensic Science Centre on Monday, she said her son had been shot 20 times close to his home off Vincent Brown Street, Gonzales, while returning from liming with friends in Laventille. She said his father took him to the Port of Spain General Hospital, where he died.

She said she was on her phone with her daughter when she heard a series of shots, but did not know her son was the victim until his father told her.

She told Newsday she had spoken to Barrow just the day before, when he said he wanted to try to collect his stipend from CCC, where he was studying air conditioning.

Cumberbatch-Barrow said her son was mischievous and got into fights, but he was never involved in gang activity or gun violence.