Cops to use DNA to find newborn's relatives

Police are hoping to use DNA to find relatives of the day-old baby girl whose body was found in a roadside bin in Maraval on Wednesday.

Head of the Homicide Bureau Snr Supt Rishi Singh, at the weekly police press briefing at the Police Administration building in Port of Spain on Thursday, said there had been no autopsy yet.

However, as police hunt for the child’s mother and try to determine what happened, Singh said they intend to use the baby's DNA as part of the investigations.

"There are systems we are going to employ. The fact that you have a baby, the DNA of that mother is something we are going to be able to make a comparison to once we find that individual."

He said as hospitals are under no compulsion to share information owing to privacy concerns, police will continue to liaise with Maraval residents, including those with CCTV recordings.

Police arrived shortly after the baby was found and retrieved footage from nearby cameras as part of their investigation.

The bin, several buildings away from the police station, is surrounded by CCTV cameras, including one at a nearby restaurant pointing directly at it.

Singh also gave updates on several other murders involving children.

He said police were making progress in the murders of ten-year-old Faith Peterkin, her two sisters Arianna, 14, and Tiffany, 19 and their brother Shain, 17, who shot dead as they slept in their home in the Heights of Guanapo on September 21.

Three men from the area, aged 21, 24 and 34, were held at an abandoned house after police searched it and found an AK assault rifle with a magazine, a Beretta pistol with a magazine and holster, 83 rounds of ammunition, and three cellphones.

Singh said one of the men has already been charged with a homicide not connected to the Peterkin murder.

“I can also confirm that we are at the stage where we are developing certain pieces of evidence and we remain cautiously optimistic that we will have a success in the Peterkin matter and possibly others.”

He revealed one person is in custody after 13-year-old Andrea Lallan and her uncle Sylvan “Puncin” Lallan, 49, were killed at their Old Mayaro Road, Libertyville home last Friday.

Lallan, just hours before her death, had pointed out a couple in an ID parade at the Rio Claro Police station.

Andrea’s father Eddy Lallan, 47, was also shot but survived.

Singh said, “We are at a very sensitive stage in that matter. I can confirm that somebody is, in fact, in custody and we are executing principles of due process in respect of that. We remain cautiously optimistic.”