Petit Valley family slain

Hours after Marlon Lee, his common-law wife and his son were murdered in their Petit Valley home on September 9, Marlon's sister was struggling to understand who would want the family dead.

Lee, 41, Maleek Lee, 17, and Salina Rodriguez, 34, were all gunned down on Monday night at their home at Sita Trace off Pioneer Drive, Petit Valley.

The trio, along with Lee's other son, who was not home at the time, lived in a 20-by-20-foot wooden structure.

Police said around 9.36 pm on September 9, a man called and gave information about gunshots he heard at his neighbour's house at Upper Pioneer Road, Petit Valley.

When police got to the house, they found Marlon lying between the bedroom and the living room. He had been shot multiple times and was dead.

They found Rodriguez on the bed in the same bedroom. She was still alive and police took her to the St James Medical Complex. She died at hospital around 10.35 pm.

Maleek was found dead approximately 20 feet away from the house.

Homicide Bureau Crime Scene officers found 30 9mm spent shells, two live rounds of 9mm ammunition and one deformed projectile.

Marlon's sister, who asked not to be named, spoke to the media at the Forensic Science Centre, St James, on September 10.

She explained Lee's two sons were Rodriguez's stepchildren.

Marlon's sister described him as a helpful person who was "ready and willing" to do any task given.

"He would've gone to the ends of the earth to help you."

She said while Marlon would have "little squabbles here and there," she does not understand what caused this "senseless killing.

"Even the boy (Maleek) – he of the age where he is trying to figure out his life."

She said Maleek attended Servol but dropped out because he was not "academically inclined.

"He was good with his hands. He was learning masonry.

"He was working. He was not sitting at home, just playing games."

She said he was a typical teenager who made mistakes as she said, "No one is perfect."

She said she lives a short distance from Lee's home.

"We heard some gunshots like if someone shooting up in the air – it sounded like fireworks. We didn't hear nothing after and we didn't come outside."

She described Lee's other son – her nephew – not being home as lucky, as he would have also been dead.

She said her nephew called around 11 pm on September 9.

"'You see Maleek? My father dead, you know.'"

She said she was shocked by his statement.

She eventually went to Lee's house and left around 2.30 am. She was unhappy with the police.

"The officers were unprofessional. They just said they were from CID and homicide and that's it. No indication of, 'My name is so-and-so and I am attached to whatever station.'"

She said the police told her the investigation would be difficult, as they had no leads.

She said one officer showed her son pictures of Marlon's and Maleek's bodies.

"From the pictures and the bodies, it seems the boy went to use the bathroom – located outside the wooden house – where he was ambushed.

"The father and Rodriguez was sleeping and like the father heard it and got up to see what happened, as the door was opened and like they shot him and then Rodriguez in the bed."

Marlon's sister said his life was beginning to take a turn for the better.

"You could have seen the happiness in his face. You could have said, 'Yes, something great going to happen'."

She began crying as she denied claims her brother was involved in a gang.

Marlon and Rodriguez worked at Cepep for roughly ten years.

"The killing was literally execution-style.
"What is hurtful is even if you going for one person, they not killing one person, they eradicating a whole family, a whole generation."

As she wept, her voice trembled as she expressed frustration over the escalating crime situation.

"People want to walk for crime, but this is a norm. Every day, three and four people...dying.

"Nothing is going to come out of this!"

Police did not have a motive for the killings in the initial reports and said investigations were ongoing.

When Newsday visited Sita Trace around 12.15 pm on September 10,  investigatiors were collecting evidence. This lasted roughly an hour before Newsday was allowed to see the house.

Residents shocked at triple murder

While waiting, one resident who did not want to be named spoke to Newsday.

He said while the family were "all right," they would not "lime or stand up and talk to them.

"I didn't expect them to get killed like that."

The resident said the family has been squatting for roughly four years, as the land is the subject of a court dispute.

Another resident who did not want to be named believes the intended target was not killed on September 9. He said there is a rumour that two young boys were threatening gangsters in the area via social media.

"Like the gangsters found out who, so who they really come for wasn't there and they take out the family."

The resident said he was asleep when the gunshots were fired. He thought the noise was firecrackers.

"Is she (Rodriguez) called the police and when they reach, I heard her saying, 'Break down the door, all of we get shoot up.'"

He said police borrowed his wheelbarrow to carry Rodriguez out of the dirt track to where their vehicle was parked a short distance away. He showed Newsday the wheelbarrow, which had been left on the side of the track and still had bloodstains on it.

He said Marlon recently got a job driving a woman around in a black Audi, which police towed when Newsday arrived.

The man was shaken by the incident, which he said had affected his family. The residents believe the gunmen came through a track close to the house, rather than the main road that everyone uses.

Newsday trekked through muddy terrain to the top of Sita Trace, then down a slope to the family's house.

Around the white wooden structure were countless pieces of debris, including old couches, cushions, garbage and pieces of wood. The house was surrounded by bamboo.

Newsday noticed a dog through a window inside the home, shaking its head and panting.

Recent multiple murders

September 5 (Icacos) – Joshua Sadoo, 21, Karreem Celestine, 36, and Jabari Kenyon Abiola, 26, were all killed in Icacos; three Venezuelans, a 24-year-old woman, a 45-year-old man and a 15-year-old boy, were injured.

July 14 (Cunupia) – Dave Lyons, 24, Jah-Marley Goddard, 23, and Earl Peters, 33, went into Rituals/Pizza Boys on the Southern Main Road, Cunupia, where they were ambushed and killed by gunmen.

July 8 (Black Rock, Tobago) – Anslem Douglas, Gregory Hamlet and Samuel McKain were killed after being ambushed by gunmen in Black Rock, Tobago. Jomoke Duncan was shot and wounded, then died later at hospital.

June 23 (Matura) – Sherwyn McFarlane, 17, Andre Maloney, 21, and Malcolm Richardson, 21, were killed by four gunmen at a house in Mendoza Street, Matura. A 30-year-old man was also injured.

June 2 (Gonzales, Belmont and Port of Spain General Hospital) – Jayden Reyes, 21, Johnathon Arjoon, 23, Kevin King, 33, and Peter Williams, 31, were all gunned down.

May 4 (Powder Magazine, Cocorite) – Shaquille Ottley, 22, Jonathan Osmond, 36, Antonio Jack, 57 and Sadiki Ottley, 31, were gunned down in the attack in Phase One, Powder Magazine, Cocorite. Eight others were injured in the attack.

February 26 (Saddle Road, Maraval) – Antonio Trim, 29, Jevone Peters, 32, and Kirby Victor, 37, were in a car when they were ambushed and killed by gunmen.

January 16 (Morvant) – Israel Mc Laren, Shaqkeem Dennis and Jammol Williams were killed when gunmen attacked them outside their Paradise Heights, Morvant homes.