(Trinidad Express) Two more men have been gunned down in separate incidents in Diego Martin and Laventille.
The killings took place on Saturday night and early yesterday at the corner of Savannah Terrace 2 and Mahogany Terrace, Diego Martin, and the corner of Rhyner Street and the Eastern Main Road, Laventille.
Police have identified the victims as Maurice John Roberts, 27, also called “John Boy”, of Laventille; and Devon Ballentyne, 32, of Diego Martin.
Ballentyne, police said, was shot dead while sitting on a culvert in front his home around 8.15 p.m. on Saturday.
The killing, which was the second within less than 12 hours within the Western Division, brought the executive of the division to the scene, including Snr Supt Glenda Jennings-Smith, head of the Western Division.
Early on Saturday, Robert Neptune, 38, of Sarganga Trace, Diego Martin was found shot to death on the roadway a short distance from his home.
A motive has not yet been established for the incident and police said Neptune wasn’t known to them to be involved in criminal activities.
Police said shortly after 8 p.m. on Saturday, one of Ballentyne’s sisters spoke to him and returned inside their home when gunshots were heard.
The woman ran outside and found her brother in a pool of blood with multiple gunshot injuries about the body. He had been shot about four times, police said.
A report was made to the police and a contingent of officers from the Western Division and the Region I Homicide Bureau of Investigations (HBI) went to the scene.
Dr Naideke examined the body and ordered it removed to the Forensic Science Centre in St James for an autopsy later today.
Western Division officers told the Express yesterday that Ballentyne was well known to them.
Among the officers visiting the scene were Supt Ishmael David, ASP Garth Nelson, Insps Henry Dann, Eric Parks, Sgts Ulrick Prescott and Ramdeen, including Cpl Harvey who is probing the incident.
In the second incident, Roberts was gunned down minutes after returning from a visit with friends on Old St Joseph Road, Laventille.
His killing sent shockwaves through the area, and scores of Laventille residents gathered at the scene.
His father David Alexander, who spoke with the Express at the scene, said when he saw his son lying on his bed he thought the young man was drunk.
Alexander said after repeated attempts to wake Roberts, just after 6 a.m. yesterday, proved futile, he sought the assistance of one of his friends. They later realised Roberts was dead.
A report was later made to the police and officers from the Besson Street Police Station and the Region I Homicide Bureau of Investigations which included Sgt Sean Coggins and Cpl Hinkson went to the scene.
Roberts, who Alexander said worked at a dry dock in Chaguaramas, was shot about seven times and stabbed about the body.
The assailants are believed to have fled the scene on foot along the Eastern Main Road into Ganges Lane.
It is, however, unclear if they went into the Beetham community but police are expected to examine surveillance tapes from monitors in the area in an attempt to identify the assailants.
Alexander said he was at a nearby house when he was alerted by one of his friends that gunshots were heard in the vicinity of his home.
He said several spent shells were found on the ground next to where his son was shot.
Alexander believed after his son came home from liming with friends, he was ambushed and shot while on his bed.
He added that his son was not known to be involved in criminal activities and his death came as a surprise to everyone in the neighbourhood.
“He’s a good lil fella and he alone was home. Is a good thing I wasn’t there else they might have killed me, too.”
Several of the victim’s relatives wept at the scene as they looked on at crime scene investigators who carefully processed inside and outside the home for possible clues.
Investigations are continuing into the incident.
The two latest killings bring the 2012 murder toll to 22, according to an Express tally.
