Trinidad: Teenager, 14, was shot in back of head

KILLED: Niomi Nelson
KILLED: Niomi Nelson

(Trinidad Express) Even as the Police Complaints Authority (PCA) has launched an investigation into last Friday’s police-involved killing of three people in Carenage, the autopsy report for 14-year-old victim Niomi Nelson concluded that she was shot to the back of the head.

The autopsy was performed yesterday at the Forensic Science Centre in St James and indicated she was shot once to the head, with an exit wound at the front of her skull.

Relatives told the Express yesterday they felt vindicated, even though the autopsy cannot indicate if the teenager was running away from the shooter or if she was a casualty of a stray bullet.

 
A relative who did not want to be identified argued that Nelson’s autopsy results meant she was facing away from the shooter and was not involved in anything.

The incident at Big Yard, Carenage, also claimed the lives of Keron Eve and Kareem Baldwin Roberts.

Relatives and residents have maintained that the police offi­cer who fired his weapon in Carenage was not shot at first as police have said.

The relatives said while they are not optimistic, they pray that investigations launched by Assistant Commissioner of Police Forde and Snr Supt Pragg will shed light on the incident and justice will be served.

Relatives were in the final stages of planning Nelson’s funeral and a tentative date has been set for Friday.