PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, Aug 21, CMC- Police are probing the murders of a 35 year-old businessman man and his five year old daughter, who were shot at their home on Tuesday night at St. Mary’s Village in the village of Moruga that lies on the central south coast of Trinidad.
Police said that Enrico Guerra was standing outside his mini-mart when three gunmen attacked him He ran into the house followed by the gunmen who were firing shots at him.
The mother of five year old Anika Guerra told investigators she was inside combing the child’s hair around 9.45 pm (local time) and dropped to the floor to take cover. Afterwards she found her husband dead on the floor and her daughter with gunshot wounds.
Anika was taken to the Princes Town District Health Facility, where she was pronounced dead. Her death has pushed the death toll so far this year to more than 400.
Police have recovered 16 spent high-powered rifle rounds at the scene.
The parliamentary representative for the area, Michelle Benjamin, has condemned the “senseless killings” adding “my heart goes out to their family during this unimaginably difficult time.
“This heinous act of violence underscores a growing and alarming trend that we have been witnessing in our community. Moruga/Tableland, once a peaceful and close-knit area, has become a battleground for violent crime,” she said, adding “the rise in such incidents is not just statistics on a page; these are lives being destroyed, families being torn apart, and a community living in fear”.
Meanwhile, police said that a 73-year-old business man has been granted half a million dollars (One TT dollar=US$0.16 cents) bail after he appeared at the Port-of-Spain North A High Court charged with three counts of sexual penetration of a minor.
The accused appeared before Magistrate Margaret Sookraj-Goswami, who ordered that he should not communicate either directly or indirectly with the victim. As part of the bail conditions, the accused was also ordered to report to a specific police station once per week
The matter has been adjourned to October 29 this year.
The court heard that on three occasions on unknown dates during the period March 27-30 this year, the landlord allegedly had sex with a 17-year-old tenant at her home.
CMC/af/ir/2024