Eagerly expecting the birth of his first baby, footballer Anderson Cornwall had started preparing a baby room. However, those plans were cut short when robbers shot him dead in Debe early yesterday. Residents of Church Street, Penal, where Cornwall lived, sat on the roadside crying when the T&T Guardian visited the area yesterday. June De Bourg, a neighbour, said Cornwall, 21, had been the star striker for the Shiva Boys’ College football team a few years back. He was employed as a construction worker where the new Shiva Boys’ College is being built.
De Bourg said whenever Cornwall had free time he would either be training or building the baby room. On Saturday night he decided to go liming with friends at the Boardroom nightclub along the SS Erin Road, Debe. Police said while standing outside the club, Cornwall was approached by two men. Witnesses said Cornwall tried to run but one of the men opened fire, hitting him in his head. Surveillance cameras showed the gunman, dressed in white, tucking away the gun after the killing. The men then snatched Cornwall’s chain and escaped in a white Nissan Tiida.
Neighbour Corin Morales said Cornwall was lovingly called Chubby in the community as he was always kicking around a Chubby softdrink bottle as a child. “Anderson was our pride and joy because he was our football star. Everything he did was to make his family and friends happy,” De Bourg wept. She then escorted the T&T Guardian to a wooden house, painted in blue, which Cornwall built himself for his common-law wife Vivan Goordeen, who is four months pregnant.
Lying on a bed with tears streaming down her face, Goordeen said, “We were waiting for our baby. We did not know if the baby is a boy or a girl. We said if it is a boy we will call him Kyron and if its a girl she will be Avana.” She said Cornwall had no enemies and the gold chain he was wearing was made in a jewelry store where she once worked. “He took a set of break gold and made that chain. It cost $2,000,” Goordeen said.
She added that a few months ago someone tried to snatch the chain, but Cornwall still insisted on wearing it. His mother, Ursular Saran, said she also cautioned Cornwall about wearing the chain, as it could attract robbers. “I talk to my son yesterday and when they called me at 3 am and say Chubby dead, I thought it was a Dam Fool Day (April 1) joke,” Saran cried. The family is now seeking assistance with funeral arrangements. An autopsy is scheduled for Monday. Anyone wanting to assist the family can contact 358-3193.