The Trinity Cathedral in Port-of-Spain was packed with mourners yesterday attending the funeral service of Marlene Grant, the 57-year-old grandmother who was killed outside her St Paul Street home last week. Grant’s standing in her community was shown by the outpouring of support at her funeral. During the homily, Deacon Edwina Peters said she, too, felt touched by Grant’s life as she interacted with the mourners.
Peters said she met a woman before the funeral and swore by her demeanour she was Grant’s daughter, only to learn it was a neighbour. She added this was the mood among all those gathered. Peters said how a person lived was more important than how they died and by the turnout of the gathering, Grant had lived well.
Peters called on the country to be more forgiving. She added that in spite of the wickedness of this world we all must love one another and forgive those who do us wrong, admitting that it was “not an easy road.” Police said Grant was killed on her way to a doctor’s visit by two masked gunmen. The killers, reports said, were tired of Grant consistently opposing them and their nefarious activities.
Three months before she was killed, thugs firebombed her home in an attempt to get her out but she refused to be driven away from her home and the community. She was shot ten times, an autopsy said. Her relatives said they doubted her murder would be solved. During the eulogy, which was given by her nephew Shaquille James, who had to be assisted by his friend Nikita Griffith, Grant was remembered for being a happy and hardworking woman.
James said his aunt would always bring him joy and no words could express how hurt he was at her killing. “She was outspoken and her legacy will live on forever and those of you in the surrounding area where we live will know that. “Marlene was an open book and there is nothing I can say that you all don’t already know.”