Relative of woman killed by stray bullet in Beetham wants justice

A fun and relaxing evening among friends in Beetham Gardens was shattered by stray bullets on Saturday, leaving a mother of two dead and her family calling for justice.

Sharida Ali, 36, of Kelly Village, Caroni, was fatally struck in the head by a bullet while liming while in the kitchen of a friend’s home on 19th Street, Beetham Gardens.

Police were reportedly chasing bandits who took them on a chase along the Beetham Highway.

Police said around 6 pm on January 18, two officers from the Tunapuna CID were responding to a report of a robbery in the Arouca Police District. They said two men took a silver Nissan Note at gunpoint.

Police said officers from the Northern Division received a report that the car had been seen near the Beetham Highway.

Police said it was intercepted on the eastbound lane of the Beetham Highway. They said the men got out of the car and ran north into Beetham Gardens.

Several gunshots were heard. The men eventually escaped.

Police said they were later told a woman had been struck by a bullet in a house, and took her to the Port of Spain General Hospital, where she died around 6.15 pm while being treated.

PCs Felix, Khan, Valentine and Hoyte of the Port of Spain CID (Area East) went to the hospital and made enquiries. They then visited the scene and interviewed more people.

The scene was later processed by PCs Samm and Philip, who found four spent 9 mm shells and one spent 5.56 shell.

Police said enquiries are ongoing.

Newsday visited 19th Street on January 19 and spoke with Lisa Welch, a friend of Ali and the owner of the house where she was fatally shot.

She said Ali, who was a regular visitor to her home, had been there around 1 pm.

“I had something for her and I told her to come and get it. After that we were just liming.”

Welch and Ali both worked at Cinemas 8 in Trincity Mall and were long-time friends.

Welch said Ali had just finished speaking to her daughter on the phone when the shooting happened.

“The daughter asked her to bring home Rituals and Church’s Chicken, and she say she was leaving in a little while to come home.”

She said sometime after 5 pm, they heard a commotion on the highway and saw men running up the street, followed by the sound of gunshots.

She said there were more than ten people in her house at the time, including seven children in the living room.

Ali was standing in front of the sink in the kitchen, preparing to take out ice for a drink, and Welch was standing a few metres behind her.

Ali’s sister Ayesha Ali was also in the kitchen cooking, a few metres to her right.

“I didn’t even know the bullet came through the window, is my mister who push me down and out of the way,” Welch said. “I eventually felt the glass on my hand from when it shattered.”

Newsday saw the bullet hole in the glass of the kitchen window, roughly 20 metres from the road.

Additionally, there was a bullet hole in her door directly in front of the living room and three above the door.

She said, “And the fellas who run out the car escaped. The run straight up the road and out of the Beetham.”

The highway is approximately 40 metres from Welch’s house, while the road is about ten metres from her front door.

Eyewitnesses claimed soldiers were also at the scene.

During a state of emergency soldiers are granted powers of arrest and joint patrols and exercises are common.

Newsday tried to contact ACP Richard Smith and chief of Defence Staff Darryl Daniel to confirm whether members of the TTDF had been present, but was unsuccessful as calls to their cellphones were unanswered.

Welch said it was a neighbour who told police someone had been shot at her home.

She said it took between ten and 15 minutes before the police came and took Ali to the hospital.

“She was done dead. I checked her pulse twice and didn’t get anything.”

Welch claimed the police “dragged” Ali by her hands and feet from the kitchen of the house to the tray of a police vehicle parked on the highway to take her to the hospital.

She asked, “How I could get up and go in that kitchen to cook?

“Sharida was the most down-to-earth...everything nice you can describe her as, that is who she was.”

Family remembers loving, hard-working mother

Newsday also visited Sharida’s sister Ayesha at her home in St Joseph on January 19. Still visbily shaken, she described her sister as a nice person and also recounted the events that led to her death.

“It seems like there was an accident or something on the highway and fellas run out.

“Police was behind. I heard about ten or more gunshots.”

“I want justice for my two nieces,"  she said. They are 15 and eight. However, she does not think justice will be served.

Another close female relative said she plans to file a report with the Police Complaints Authority (PCA) on January 20, as no one from the PCA had contacted them.

Director of the PCA David West told Newsday an investigation will officially begin on January 20.

The female relative described Ali as a loving, caring and hard-working person who loved her children.

“She didn’t deserve to go the way she go. Her eight-year-old constantly crying every minute, asking for her mother.

“You know how that feeling to this family? It is the most hurtful thing.”

Newsday also contacted deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of operations Junior Benjamin,for a comment on the incident. However, he said an active investigation was ongoing and he did not have all the facts.

“We will keep the public aware and up to date as the investigation unfolds.”