T&T man who witnessed cousin’s murder gunned down

(Trinidad Express) A Moruga man, who witnessed the murder of his cousin four months ago, was gunned down as he walked home after liming at a nearby bar on Saturday.

Anton Sambury, 26, was shot in the head and collapsed on the roadway at St Mary’s Village, Moruga, around 11.20 p.m.

Police said residents heard gunshots followed by screeching tyres.

Sambury, father of an eight-year-old girl, lived at Bonyon Trace, St Mary’s Village, Moruga.

His wife, Meranda, said: “He came home from work and he didn’t want to go anywhere. But his brother-in-law kept telling him to come down the road to drink a few beers. I told him to go, but be careful. We were watching wrestling and then he left.”

Meranda, 29, said she received a call that there were gunshots in the area.

“I called his mother and asked if he was there, but she said no. So I decided to walk down the road and look for him. I met my brother and another friend and we were walking on the road, when I saw the body,” she said.

Sambury said her husband was lying face down at the side of the road. She turned him over, hoping that he was still alive.

“But I saw some blood on his head. I asked if he had a cut and then my brother said that was a gunshot wound. I started to bawl and bawl,” she said.

Sambury said she was clutching her husband’s body when a police van passed by. “They was patrolling the area and people started to flag them down and say the man dead,” she said.

The couple got married three years ago, but were in a 12-year relationship.

“We were the sweetbreads of Moruga. No lime was good without us. We loved each other and had a lot of plans for the future,” she said.

Ellearay Pitman, his father-in-law, said Sambury was a good man.

“He was loving and nice. I had to explain to his daughter Quonisha, this morning that her father was dead. But she is a smart child. I told her about the Bible and that if we all live a good live we will go to heaven and see her father again. And she agreed that she will live a good life to be with him again,” he said.

Anton Sambury had planned to spend Father’s Day having lunch with his wife and daughter.

Sambury’s cousin, poultry farmer Randy De Coteau was gunned down by men dressed in camouflage clothing in February.

De Coteau, 34, was sitting in his brother’s front porch with relatives when a darkly-tinted Nissan Almera car pulled into the driveway. The gunmen ran in and opened fire on the men.

Police believe Sambury was a target. Homicide detectives are continuing investigations.