(Trinidad Express);Village painter Rodney Charles is believed to have been lured to his death on Saturday night when he was shot and killed near the place where residents in his community were bursting bamboo for Divali celebrations.
Charles, 32, a father of one, was shot in the face and upper body by two gunmen who ambushed him in Picton Settlement.
His grieving wife, Sasha Charles, 36, said it was not usual for him to lime in that area in the village.
“He limes all over, but he does not go in the back there. Someone lured him there,” said Sasha.
Charles’ mother, Marie Mohan, 66, said, “To me, it is a ranking thing. It is not about a gang, or drugs or no money. Who could shoot and kill who. They had threatened to kill him and he was targeted.”
Mohan said she heard that about five minutes before the gunmen came, someone told her son to leave.
“They told him ‘Go from here’. Apparently, they wanted to run him from there, as if they didn’t want him to get shot in that yard. But he did not take heed and move from there. If he did move, they would have shot him in the car, not in the yard. They lured him there for the gunman to come. About three years ago, he got into a scuffle with someone. They killed his friend. And they kept targeting him,” said the mother.
Both wife and mother denied that the killing was narcotics-related, adding that he smoked marijuana but was not a dealer.
Mohan said, “It was not a drug deal. I does have to mind him. I would give him my last money. I would do without and give him my money so he would not interfere with anyone. He recently got a job as a painter. Before he had a stall selling water and vegetables which I would buy to help him.”
Multiple shots
A police report said the killing occurred around 9.40 p.m. when Charles was sitting on his car at Picton Settlement looking on as two men and a ten-year-old boy were bursting bamboo in the yard of one of the residents.
Two gunmen wearing dark clothing and masks approached Charles from behind and fired multiple shots at him. Dillon Hosein, 30, of Picton Settlement, who was standing nearby when the gunmen attacked, sustained a gunshot wound to the right arm. The shooters escaped by running along Picton Street Extension.
PCs Meah, Ramlogan and Nathoo attached to the Southern Division Emergency Response Patrol (Unit 61) were on mobile patrol duties when they received a report of the shooting at Picton Street Extension, Diamond Village from the Police Command Centre. They responded and observed Charles’ body lying unresponsive on his stomach on the ground.
