Danelle Phillip - Murder #20

Danelle Phillip

Murder #20: Male, 27 years old, shot to death.

Escape to New York
Mon 12 January 2015 - A father of two was shot to death on Observatory Street in East Port-of-Spain in broad daylight Monday morning around 10:15 AM.

Residents saw one man walk up to another man and shoot him. When they went to investigate, they found 27-year-old Danelle "Honey" Phillip of Second Caledonia, Morvant, lying on the ground bleeding from wounds about the body. He was rushed to the Port-of-Spain General Hospital where he died while undergoing emergency surgery.

Phillip was a worker at the Port-of-Spain City Corporation. Co-workers called his wife that morning informing her that her husband had been shot. His body was taken to the Forensic Science Centre in St James for an autopsy. At the autopsy, relatives said a gang was pressuring Phillip to join, but he proved obdurate and refused. 

Kerwin Scott - murder #19

Kerwin Scott

Murder #19: Male, 36 years old, shot to death.

Diego Martin home invasion
Mon 12 January 2015 - Father of four, Kerwyn "Kello" Scott, 36, of Blue Basin Road, Diego Martin was gunned down while in bed Monday morning around 2:30 AM.

A group of men dressed in police and military uniforms broke down the front door as they shouted "Police" and searched the home for Scott. When they came to his bedroom, they found the disabled man lying in bed unable to flee. They shot him multiple times about the body and left without harming anyone else or stealing anything.

Scott was shot last October and paralyzed from the waist down. He had witnessed the attackers who put him in a wheelchair and was scheduled to appear in open court soon to testify against them as the principle witness.

Police believe he may have been murdered to silence him.

Claudius Joseph - Murder #18

Claudius Joseph

Murder #18: Male, 65 years old, stabbed to death.

Pensioner stabbed at home in Port Fortin
Sun 11 January 2015 - Sunday morning around 10:00 AM, 65-year-old pensioner Claudius Joseph was found by a friend dead at his Agard Road, Point Fortin, home. The father of four had been stabbed in the neck and was bleeding out of the mouth and nose.

Joseph was regularly checked upon by a friend, who found the pensioner lying on his bed that morning dead. Police were called and the body was taken to the Forensic Science Centre at St James for an autopsy. The autopsy confirmed it was a murder.

Family said they had no idea why the grandfather of ten was killed. Nothing was stolen from the house and the elderly man lead a quiet life. They recalled Joseph was chopped at his home about a year earlier by a woman, after they had had a fight. 

Ateba Pantin - Murder #17

Ateba Pantin

Murder #17: Male, 29 years old, shot to death.

Roadie killed in Laventille
Sun 11 January 2015 - Sunday morning around 11:00 AM, 29-year-old Ateba "Ace" Pantin of Diego Martin was shot to death while transporting musical instruments and equipment for the steelpan ensemble Witco Desperadoes.

The escalating violence in Laventille has forced the Desperadoes to move their panyard from Laventille Hill to Belmont for the upcoming Carnival Season.

Pantin was employed as a contractor to do roadie work, hauling gear between the Desperadoes' Laventille Hill panyard to their new panyard on Cadiz Road in Queen’s Park East, Port-of-Spain. The young man was riding in a truck with his boss, Chavez Best, hauling equipment Sunday morning.

Rautie Esther Gopaul - Murder #16

Murder #16: Female, 42 years old, suffocated to death.

Mother murdered during home robbery
Fri 9 January 2015 - Rautie "Wendy" Esther Gopaul of McPhill Street, Caroni Savannah Road, Chaguanas, was murdered early Friday morning during a home invasion robbery.

Around 1:30 AM the 42-year-old mother and sales consultant was home sleeping. Her 19-year-old son, Aaron, was watching TV in his bedroom when two armed men entered. They took him into his mother's bedroom where a third man had aroused Wendy Gopaul from her slumber. One of the men was armed with a pistol, the other with a cutlass.

They restrained the mother and son, with tie-wraps and duct tape, and forced them to lie face-down on the bed while they ransacked the home and robbed the Gopaul's of an undisclosed sum of cash and jewelry.

Shabana Mohammed - Murder #15

Shabana Mohammed

Murder #15: Female, 19 years old, strangled to death.

(Shabana Mohammed's Facebook)

Missing Santa Cruz teen found
Thu 8 January 2015 - Missing teen Shabana Mohammed was found behind the family home in Santa Cruz after six days of frantic searching by family, friends, and police.

The 19-year-old sales coordinator had disappeared on Saturday morning.

Her badly decomposed body was found in a shallow grave in a ditch behind her home around 10:00 AM Thursday morning by neighbors. A strong smell of decay led to the discovery.

Police were called and they arrived to perform their crime scene investigations.

Police believe the teen's throat was cut, but due to the advance state of decomposition, they cannot be sure of the cause of death until an autopsy has been performed and a definitive cause of death is assigned by a forensic pathologist.

On Saturday morning, Mohammed was left home alone. Neighbors reported hearing a loud scream that morning

David Mohan - Murder #14

David Mohan

Murder #14: Male, 85 years old, cause of death currently unconfirmed.

Elderly Fyzabad man found dead
Tue 6 January 2015 - A Lumtac Hill, Fyzabad, resident called police regarding the elderly man who lived next door. He had not seen him for some time and the good neighbor was concerned.

Police arrived at the home of 85-year-old David Mohan Tuesday evening around 6:00 PM to investigate. They found Mohan lying dead on the floor of his living room. He had marks about the head and neck.

An autopsy was performed Wednesday and the pathologist determined Mohan had an abrasion on his forehead and lacerations about the neck.

Police are currently treating the death as a murder while more medical tests are performed

Barry Joseph- Murder #13

Murder #13: Male, age unknown, chopped to death.

Tue 6 January 2015 - A fight over drugs between two homeless men in the streets of San Fernando ended with one dead and another wounded.

The deceased, whom police only identified as “Barry”, was taken to hospital by police offi­cers where he was pronounced dead.

At around 4 p.m., Barry and another man were involved in a fight on Harris Street.

Police said he was chopped multiple times, then ran along Harris Street and collapsed on the pavement, within sight of the San Fernando Police Headquarters and across the road from the San Fernando Supreme Court.

Police officers were quick on the scene, but the suspect was seen running away with a cutlass in hand and his clothing bloody.

A party of police officers led by Senior Superintendent Cecil Santana, Inspectors Don Gaja­dhar and Sean Dhillpaul and Sgt Julien, led officers of the San Fernando CID and Homicide Bureau (South) to the scene.

A manhunt has been launched by police for the suspect.

Joshua Nipper - Murder #12

Joshua Nipper

Murder #12: Male, 22 years old, shot to death.

Tue 6 January 2015 - A father of two, Josh Nipper, 22, of Guaratta Village, Maracas Valley, was shot dead at a car wash on Railway Road in St Joseph Tuesday afternoon.

Shortly before 2:00 PM, a man wearing a track suit and cap pulled-low, walked up to Nipper as he worked at the car wash. The gunman brazenly shot him to death, in full view of Nipper's co-workers, and then calmly got into a nearby waiting car and drove away on the East Main Road.

Another employee of the car wash was wounded in the incident and taken to the nearby Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex for emergency treatment.

Police arrived and recovered 13 spent bullet shells. They believe the killing is gang-related.

Relatives of the victim, however, claim he was murdered by a member of the T&T Protective Services

Miguel Gaskin - Murder #11

Miguel Gaskin

Murder #11: Male, 23 years old, shot to death.

Missing man found dead
Mon 5 January 2015 - Monday afternoon around 5:30 PM, the body of 23-year-old Miguel "Croc" Gaskin of Sara Lane, Success Village, was found in an abandoned house on Church Street, Laventille. Gaskin was reported missing Saturday, January 3rd.

That afternoon neighbors of the abandoned house noticed a foul smell. They called police who arrived and broke down the door to gain entry. Inside they discovered the bullet-ridden decomposing body of Gaskin. His remains were taken to the Forensic Science Centre at St James for an autopsy.

Family members say they last saw Gaskin Saturday helping a neighbor paint his house. The young man left to make a delivery to his Grandmother, but never arrived

Khemraj Seerattan - Murder #10

Khemraj Seerattan

Murder #10: Male, 22 years old, shot to death.

Vendor killed in drive-by
Sun 4 January 2015 - Around 11:30 PM Sunday 22-year-old Kimraj "Jason" Seerattan of Bamboo Blvd, Bamboo Village was murdered at his place of business.

The young man was at his hamburger stand in Valsayn near the Grand Bazaar when a car pulled up nearby. A man climbed out of a red Nissan car and started shooting at the vendor several times. Seerattan ran a short distance before collapsing to the ground dead. The shooter then got back into the vehicle and they sped away from the crime scene, escaping south on the Uriah Butler Highway.

Seerattan's mother, Bissoondai Gulbance, often assisted her son at the hamburger cart. Their home was located just behind the street-front where Seerattan parked his cart and plied his trade.

At the time of the murder, Seerattan's mother was inside their home preparing condiments for her son's business, when she heard the gunshots.

Levi Snaggs - Murder #9

Levi Snaggs

Murder #9: Male, 34 years old, shot to death.

Shot down in the street
Sun 4 January 2015 - Father of two, Levi Snaggs, was shot to death on the streets of St James Sunday morning after attending a party. The 34-year-old part-time laborer and owner of a parlor on Bellevue Road, St James, was walking home along Upper Bellevue Road around 12:30 AM when he was gunned down by unknown gunmen.

He was last seen alive at a party in an area known as "the Alley". After the victim left the party, gunshots were heard by neighbors, who called police. Police arrived and found Snuggs lying in a drain bleeding from several gunshot wounds about the body. He was rushed to the Port-of-Spain General Hospital, but died during emergency surgery.

Police believe the murder is gang-related and that Snuggs was a member of the "Up the Hill Gang". 

Roger Frederick - Murder #8

Roger Frederick

Murder #8: Male, 38 years old, shot to death.

Drive-by in San Juan
Sat 3 January 2015 - 38-year-old Roger Frederick was murdered outside a female friend's home on First Street in San Juan Saturday night.

Around 11:30 PM he had just left the house and was walking to his car, when a black Nissan pulled up. Two men climbed out of the car and started shooting, hitting Frederick multiple times about the body. The victim tried to run, but collapsed onto the street in a drain. The car then sped away.

Police were called and Frederick was rushed to the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex.  

Krishendath Mahabir - Murder #7

Krishendath Mahabir

Murder #7: Male, 54 years old, shot to death.

Building contractor murdered in Biche
Sat 3 January 2015 - Around 9:45 PM Saturday, 54-year-old building contractor and father of three, Krishendath Mahabir, of Kowlessar Trace, Biche, was in his yard taking an outdoor bath when gunshots rang out. His brother heard the gunshots and went to investigate. He found Mahabir lying in the yard bleeding from multiple gunshot wounds to the chest.

The victim was rushed to the Rio Claro Health Facility where he was pronounced dead on arrival. No arrests have been made and police currently have no motive for the murder. 

Sean Carrabayo - Murder #6

Sean Carrabayo

Murder #6: Male, 18 years old, shot to death.

Called to his death
Sat 3 January 2015 - A group of friends were playing cards on the corner of Rodney Street and Western Main Road in Carenage around 5:00 PM Saturday. One of them was 18-year-old Sean Carrabayo of Amowsville Road, Pt Cumana, Carenage.

The teen received a telephone call and left the card game momentarily. He walked across the street to a basketball court on Fitzallen Street to take the call. A car pulled up, gunshots were fired, and the youth fell to the ground. The car then sped away from the crime scene.

Carrabayo's companions heard the gunshots and found him dead on the ground. He was shot several times about the body.

Police were called to investigate the murder. They said Carrabayo was well-known to them and they consider the murder to be gang-related. The victim's family disagree with the police assessment and said the youth was not involved in crime and that he had only recently left school.

Darryl Bastien - Murder #5

Darryl Bastien

Murder #5: Male, 32 years old, shot to death.

Death and a telephone charger
Fri 2 January 2015 - Father of two, 32-year-old Darryl Bastien of Siparia, was shot to death around 7:00 AM Friday on his way to work.

The murder of the The Water & Sewerage Authority (WASA) worker took place on the street outside his uncle's Quinam Road, Siparia home. Bastien was on his way to his grandmother's house to pick up the sack lunch she normally packed for him on work days.

67-year-old Josephine Lewis had raised Bastien since he was 2-years-old when his mother died. He was very close to his grandmother and according to his aunt, Brenda Lewis, he called her "Mom". Bastien would take his meals and spent much of his free time with his grandmother, even though he lived alone a short distance away in Ritoville, Siparia.

That morning Bastien got into an argument with a 26-year-old man who was new to the neighborhood. 

Dorothy Rodrigo - Murder #4

Dorothy Rodrigo

Murder #4: Female, 30 years old, shot to death.

Carapo woman murdered
Fri 2 January 2015 - Shortly after returning from a New Years Party, 30-year-old Dorothy Rodrigo was gunned down in the bathroom of her Jokhan Trace, Carapo home. She was the first woman murdered in the new year.

Around 3:15 AM Friday, gunshots were heard by the victim's mother who lived next door. Rodrigo's mother called her daughter's cell phone, but received no answer. She then went to investigate and found her daughter lying in a pool of blood dead from multiple gunshot wounds to the chest. The killers had already fled the crime scene.

Police were called and soon arrived at the house near the Santa Rosa Park racetrack in Arima. At the time of her death, Rodrigo had just returned from a New Years party and was still wearing the black party dress she had worn earlier that evening. 

Kevin Francis - Murder #3

Kevin Francis

Murder #3: Male, 23 years old, shot to death.

Murdered for a bottle of champagne?
Fri 2 January 2015 - Around 1:30 AM Friday, father of one and construction worker Kevin Francis of Duke Street, South Oropouche was found dead along Maharaj Trace in South Oropouche.

Earlier that evening, the 23-year-old man had attended a New Years party at friends who lived on Partap Trace in South Oropouche. While walking home he was shot in the head and shoulder and left lying dead along Maharaj Trace.

A passerby saw his body lying on the street, but thought he was drunk and passed-out from too much drink. The passerby called the victim's family to tell them to come get him. Soon after a cousin arrived and saw that Francis was actually dead and lying on the ground in a pool of blood with a bullet hole in the back of his head.

Police are investigating allegations that the murder was over a bottle of champagne.

Steven Harrington - Murder #2

Steven Harrington

Murder #2: Male, 30 years old, shot to death.

Body found by Petrotrin security
Thu 1 January 2015 - Around 11:15 PM Thursday evening, New Year's Day, Petrotrin security went to check on a car parked off Casserina Avenue not too far from the Sir Solomon Hochoy Highway.

They had noticed the unattended car parked there for an excessively long time. When they arrived to investigate, they discovered the body of 30-year-old Steven Fabian Harrington, of Carolina Village, Couva, lying dead in the back seat. He had been shot three times in the chest.

St Margaret's Police were called and they arrived and began their crime scene investigation. Police believe Harrington was murdered elsewhere and the car was later abandoned on the remote street near the Petrotrin Point Lisas compound.

Harrington was an ex-convict who had served time in prison for drug possession.

Sheflan Rampersad - Murder 1

Sheflan Rampersad

Murder #1: Male, 32 years old, shot to death.

South Trinidad murder
Thu 1 January 2015 - Early New Year's Day, police received an anonymous tip of a shooting near an abandoned gas station at St Margaret's Junction in South Trinidad.

Around 5:30 AM Thursday they arrived to find 32-year-old Sheflan "Fingers" Rampersad of St Johns Trace, Claxton Bay, lying on the ground bleeding from multiple gunshot wounds to the chest. Rampersad, a handyman, drug addict, and ex-convict, was rushed to the Couva Health Facility where he was pronounced dead on arrival.

According to family, Rampersad had served time at the Carrera Convict Prison for drug possession and theft convictions. He was released from prison two years ago and vowed to turn things around and leave the life of crime behind.

Vernon Carter - Murdered

Murder #0: Male, 71 years old, shot to death.

Maloney man first victim of new year
Thu 1 January 2015 - A couple of minutes after midnight, while standing on the street in front of his Maloney Gardens home watching fireworks with his grandson, a 71-year-old grandfather was shot in the stomach by a stray bullet.

Dead is retired postman Vernon Carter.

The father of four was outside his Woodstar Avenue, Maloney home with family watching the fireworks when he felt a burning sensation in his left side. He collapsed to the ground in pain and was rushed to the Arima Health Facility where he was pronounced dead on arrival.