Ex-con among three shot dead in South Trinidad

Three men were murdered in South Trinidad this weekend in separate incidents, and all were shot dead.

Police were called out to Mathura Avenue, Charlo Village, Penal where the body of Visham Ramdeen, 30, was found around 1.20 pm.

The victim was at home with his brother when he was attacked by two men who pulled up in a white car outside the house.

He was shot multiple time and died at the scene, police said.

Police said Ramdeen, also known as Baby Sham, was recently released from prison.

On Saturday, police were called in to investigate two separate murders in the Marabella district.

The victim was identified as Desmond Edwards, of Silk Cotton Road, Battoo Avenue. He was killed near his home at 10 am.

The body of the second victim was found in an SUV parked in an area known as Jumbie Bay around midnight. Police identified the man as Hayden Smith, 42 and said he had been shot dead.

Smith, who worked as a labourer with the Fernando City Corporation, was shot ten times while sitting in his vehicle outside his home by a masked shooter.

Police are now reviewing video footage which recorded the killing.

Smith was the brother of former local government councillor La-Verne Smith.

La-Verne said she spoke to her brother two days ago and warned him about the dangers of the covid-19 virus.

"I told him to be careful and to make sure he has hand sanitizer and also to try and stay home during this time of the crisis, not knowing he would have lost his life to crime."

La-Verne said she could not imagine why anyone would murder her brother. “He was a humble person who cared for his family," she said.

She said he was a father of three teenage children, two girls and a boy. La Verne and her two brothers grew up as orphans after their parents died owing to illness.

"We were cared for by our aunt, Gloria Caliste, who is the sister former Calypso Monarch Leroy Caliste (Black Stalin)," La-Verne said.

Homicide officers are now investigating these three cases. The number of people murdered for the year now stands at 151.