20 people murdered in seven days – Bloodiest week of the year

A RECENT increase in homicides held steady with seven murders within 24 hours in the eastern quadrant of Trinidad, sparking growing fears among law-abiding people in the midst of a state of emergency.

The murder toll for the week now jumps to 20, making it the bloodiest week of the year.

According to Newsday's count, the murder toll for the year is now 294 compared to 490 for the same period in 2024.

The country, still reeling from the shocking triple murder at Friendship Village, San Fernando, where a couple and their son were killed, the double murder of a teenager and his brother in Mt Hope, the deadly ambush of a Chaguanas businessman and six other killings, including a double murder in San Juan, was jolted yet again by the surge of overnight killings.

News of the overnight murders brought a wave of outrage from social media commentators and opposition politicians.

"Trinidad is at war with itself...Lawd father put a hand. People must be feeling hopeless. Families get no justice and the government is quiet and they can't deal with crime," a woman stated under a breaking Newsday story on the latest killings.

Another poster said, "I suppose we have to declare a SoEE, a state of extreme emergency, because clearly an SoE is not enough."

TT has been under a state of emergency (SoE) for the past 84 days.

The SoE was declared on July 18 by President Christine Kangaloo following a recommendation from Police Commissioner Allister Guevarro.

Guevarro had said intelligence confirmed a coordinated and highly dangerous criminal network operating from within the country's prisons posed a threat to judicial and prosecuting officials as well as law enforcement officers.

On July 28, Parliament voted to extend the SoE by an additional 90 days. The current SoE is set to expire on October 26, unless Parliament extends it for another 90 days.

Former national security minister Marvin Gonzales told Newsday that the UNC-led government weaponised crime and the fear of crime and now, they have no real solutions to the unabated wave of criminal activity.

“This is a very troubling situation and not one that any citizen or any serious political party would be comfortable with,” Gonzales said.

“It is also not one that we in the PNM would pretend to play politics with, or try to score cheap political points, but, unfortunately, the UNC used crime as a political weapon against the PNM over the past nine years.

“They called for the resignation of ministers. They never fully co-operated with the government and crime-fighting initiatives laid in parliament.

"All they did was offer low-hanging fruit such as stand your ground legislation, which is a cheap way of making peace.”

He said during the PNM’s tenure in government, it was seeking to address the root causes of crime, which included social issues such as unemployment, issues in schools, the influx of guns from various areas such as the US, TT’s porous borders, corruption in prisons and in the national security network and judicial stagnation.

“The PNM was addressing the issues in the Judiciary, issues in the police service, corruption and prosecutorial issues. Of course, we worked with the Ministry of Education. We set up the Ministry of Youth Development to offer alternatives to crime and criminal activity to your young people and so they could become contributing citizens.

“It was a holistic effort. In some instances, we were successful. In other instances, we did not get the kind of success we had hoped for, but it was a whole-of-government approach. We believe that the issue of crime and criminality has to be attacked from a whole-of-government approach.”

He pointed out that the Prime Minister promised the nation that crime would be cut down within six months. The government has been in office for five and a half months. He said while crime has reduced thanks to an SoE, the reduction is not sustainable without real solutions to attack the root causes of crime.

“When the PNM left government, there was a reduction in murders by 31 per cent (also through an SoE). The UNC also called an SoE and there was a further reduction, then we started seeing this spike. We warned the country that a reduction (through an SOE) is not a sustainable solution, because we understood how complex the issue is – and one morning you're going to get up and you would see a spiralling of the situation again.”

Gonzales also took issue again with Guevarro going to Denver, Colorado, in the US between October 18-21 for an international conference during a SoE and murders spiking. He said he tried to raise the issue in Parliament but was blocked by the speaker of the house under a standing order pertaining to relevance.

He also knocked the UNC’s posturing on crime, saying that would not be enough to stop criminals.

“The government believes, through their spokespersons, that by speaking in a particular way, that alone is going to frighten the criminals from committing crime. It doesn't happen like that.

“It does not happen like that. They are now realizing, and the reality is now setting in, that to fight this problem, you have to tackle it from its root causes.”

Speaking with reporters on October 9, Guevarro said that while the TTPS has achieved some successes in the fight against crime over the past few months, it was fair to acknowledge the police’s challenges when they come up.

He said there were still areas where the police can develop despite making gains in the fight against crime. He told reporters that he is taking the recent developments as a learning experience.

Still, he said the recent rash of murders did not necessarily reflect a failure on the part of the police. He pointed out that several anti-crime operations were happening at the same time many of these murders occurred.

He added that police kept a visible presence throughout the SoE.

Calls to Guevarro's cellphone and Homeland Security Minister Roger Alexander went unanswered on October 11. Deputy Commissioner Junior Benjamin deferred questions to the CoP.

Murder in Morvant

The latest murder was in Caledonia, Morvant, in an area called Vegas.

The victim has been identified as 22-year-old Marcus "Skeng" Johnson.

Missing businessman’s body found

The body of missing Charlieville businessman Imraz “Clubs” Ali was discovered off a precipice on North Coast Road on October 11, Newsday understands.

Police have three suspects in custody, one of whom allegedly confessed to the kidnapping and murder and directed investigators to the location where Ali’s body was disposed of.

Ali, 60, went missing on September 4. He disappeared after doing a business transaction that day. On October 10, CrimeStoppers offered a $100,000 reward to anyone who could help locate Ali.

Two dead in Valencia

Two men were killed while liming at a bar along Valencia Old Road, shortly after 1 am.

Reports said two men identified as 26-year-old Derrick Rowley, of San Pedro Extension and 42-year-old Shane Fulchan, of Majack Hill, Valencia.

Police said Rowley and Fulchan were in the bar when gunmen stormed in and opened fire. Rowley and Fulchan died at the scene, while two other people were injured. The injured were taken to hospital, where they are reportedly in a stable condition.

Man stabbed to death near MP’s office

Hours earlier, at about 10.30 pm, a 73-year-old man identified as Stephen “Patches” Lewis, of Guanapo Street, Arima, was fatally stabbed in the neck near the office of Arima MP Pennelope Beckles.

Police were alerted to a report of a man being stabbed near Oceanic Supermarket. First responders found the man dead in the carpark of the supermarket, which is next to the MP’s office.

Police were told that at about 10 pm, Lewis was at his home when a commotion was heard that sounded like an apparent alteration. Shortly after, an unidentified man and woman were seen leaving Lewis’ home. The man then ran out of his house and onto the road and the inujred man continued running until he collapsed in the parking lot.

Man murdered in Wallerfield

Around the same time Lewis being stabbed on Guanapo Street, 32-year-old Aledo Roberts, from Red Granite Street, Wallerfield, was shot dead by masked men.

Police said he was sitting in his home when a white car pulled up in front of his house and a masked man entered and shot him several times.

He was taken to the Arima General Hospital by a neighbour, but he died from his wounds.

He was pronounced dead at 10.27 pm.

Murder in Maloney

At about 8 pm on October 10, 42-year-old Kurleigh Simon, of Building 7, Maloney, was shot dead.

A close female relative of Simon’s said she was walking across Building Eight on the way to Building Five, along with Simon and her 12-year-old son, at about 8 pm, when she heard gunshots and felt a burning sensation in her left calf.

When she turned around, she saw Simon lying on the ground, gasping for air. He died at the scene.

When police responded to the reports, they found Simon lying on the pathway leading to Building Eight, with gunshot wounds to his chest, hand, and abdomen.