State witness killed after leaving safe house

(Trinidad Express) – Alicia Kizzy McKenzie, of Central Street, Vistabella, a witness to the March 13 Marabella murder of Jason Fullerton, of Ramsamooj Street, Marabella has been found dead.

McKenzie, 29, was one of the key witnesses to the Fullerton killing and a man has since appeared in court charged with the murder.

McKenzie was placed under police protection following the murder, but she was tempted by an invitation from a friend to attend a party at Club 601, on Prince of Wales Street, San Fernando, over the weekend.

The Express learnt from a close relative that McKenzie had received a telephone call around 7 pm on Saturday and she left Tobago on the last flight to Trinidad. She was met at the airport by a friend who drove her to San Fernando.

Her body, with four gunshot wounds, was later found close to an old stove near the National Gas High Tension Wire shed on the Mayo Main Road.

Neighbours in the area told the Express that around 1 am on Sunday they heard four gunshots.

“We thought it was hunters in the area because it sounded as though it came from the nearby estate,” said one of the neighbours.

The neighbours said it was not until Sunday morning when the police came to their home that they realised someone had been killed.

Speaking to the media at the Mount Bethel Baptist Cathedral at St Madeleine, the victim’s mother, Carol Williams, said she did not even know her daughter was in Trinidad.

“The first time I heard she was killed was when the police came to my home in Pleasantville,” she said.

Williams added, “Since this morning (Sunday) I got a bad feeling and I felt someone touching me on my shoulder, then later on I got the news.”

She said she had no idea why someone would want to kill her daughter.

The news, Williams said, was disturbing to her, but she expects justice to be done in the killing.

McKenzie, a mother of four, lived alone in an apartment on Central Street, Vistabella. The landlady said she knew nothing of the whereabouts of McKenzie.

None of McKenzie’s children, all boys ranging in ages from five to 12, lived with her. Her killing pushed the murder toll to 127 for the year.