The murder of a state witness and a carnival spectator were among four that took place between Carnival Tuesday and Ash Wednesday. The murders have taken the murder toll to 52 for the year, 20 fewer than the same period last year. The killings brought the total number of people killed over the last five days to 12.
Police said 21-year-old Kyshon Bell told relatives he did not want to go into the city to witness the parade of the bands. He was beaten and stabbed in a fight along Ariapita Avenue, Woodbrook, shortly after 6.30 pm. The incident disrupted las lap celebrations as police moved in to quell the fight near Wendy’s fast food restaurant on Ariapita Avenue. According to police reports, Bell, of Queen Street, Port-of-Spain, died at the Port-of-Spain General Hospital about two hours later.
According to one of Bell’s friends who spoke with the media, yesterday, at the Forensic Science Centre, St James, Bell was accosted by a man wearing a carnival band security T-shirt who thought he had thrown a bottle at them. The friend, who did not want to be named, said the incident followed an incident where another friend was thrown out of the band.
Speaking with the T&T Guardian at their Queen Street home yesterday, Bell’s aunt, who identified herself only as Yvette, said her nephew was a peacemaker who never disrespected anyone. She said the father of two was not supposed to have gone out that day but accompanied his younger cousin who wanted to go look at the mas. Yvette said her nephew’s lungs were punctured when he was stabbed.
“This is a great loss to the family. If you is a security in a band you have no authority to stab him. It wasn’t one stab you know, is more than one,” Yvette said. Another relative said justice was all the family wanted now, adding that no one from the band had contacted them since the incident. Another one of Bell’s relatives who was described as his favourite cousin, Khadisha, called on the authorities to use security cameras to identify the killers.
“They (the band organisers) probably don’t even know Kyshon dead, no one came or called. Is like if he was just a dog, as though he don't have a family. I think if you hiring security you must show them how to act with people on the road. My cousin went to enjoy himself and then end up dead,” Khadisha said. Bell will be buried on Saturday.
In a telephone interview with the T&T Guardian yesterday, leader of the band, which was identified by the security guard’s T-shirt, said while the incident was not brought to his attention, it could not have happened with his band as his band was already done for the day and at his mas camp in Woodbrook when the stabbing took place.
Other killings
In the most recent killing, 24-year-old Kurt Boyce was killed at the home of his girlfriend around 2 am yesterday. Police reports said Boyce was at the Trou Macaque home of his girlfriend when a gunman stormed the house and shot him once in the chest while he was asleep.
He was pronounced dead on arrival at the Port-of-Spain General Hospital. His girlfriend, who was at home when Boyce was shot, spoke with the media at the Forensic Science Centre, St James, yesterday. She described Boyce as a hardworking man.
“He was a nice person. He was just a nice person. I have a daughter; he used to treat she like he own but we have no children together,” she said.
On Carnival Tuesday night, state witness Nicholas Joseph, 21, was killed near his Dundonald Hill, St James, home around 10.30 pm. Joseph was the main witness in the killing of Marlon Harewood, 35, who was killed on April 25, 2014. His body was found behind a neighbour’s house at Dundonald Hill, Belle Vue, St James. Police said Joseph had been receiving death threats recently.
A man is currently before the Port-of-Spain Magistrates Court charged with Harewood’s murder. In the fourth killing, a homeless man was found semi-nude in a shack in St Augustine. According to police reports, around 2.30 pm on Tuesday, Northern Division officers went to Agostini St, St Augustine, where they found the body of Joel “Cruz” Benjamin in the house.
Benjamin is the second man this month to be found dead in the Division without any pants or underwear. On February 8, a man was found in the same condition near the Grand Bazaar overpass.