A hostile relationship, a jealous lover and alleged poor policing are being blamed for the murder of Nikita Griffin, who was stabbed to death early yesterday at her Clifton Hill apartment, St Paul Street, East Dry River, Port-of-Spain. Police said around 5.30 am, Griffin, a 28-year-old mother of three, was at her apartment, having just returned home from partying with friends when she and the suspect began arguing.
The man then pulled out a knife and stabbed her repeatedly in front of her 13-year-old child. After stabbing the woman the man placed her in a car and took her to the Port-of-Spain General Hospital, where she was pronounced dead on arrival. The man, police said, is now in hiding. Speaking to the media at the Forensic Science Centre, St James, yesterday, Griffin’s friends said she and the man were together for the past five months and were continuously arguing.
The man, they said, was always jealous of any attention Griffin received from the opposite sex and that was the cause of most of the almost daily arguments. The women lamented that Griffin’s killer was arrested by police after the two got into a heated argument recently but was later released.
Griffin’s killing was one of three which occurred between Tuesday night and yesterday morning. In the other killings, police are clueless over the motive for the murder of Alyrio Sergio Howard.
Police reports are that around 8.50 pm on Tuesday, Howard, 35, of Queen Elizabeth Avenue, Petit Valley, was driving east along Carlton Avenue, St James, when a Nissan B-13 stopped in front of his Hyundai Elantra. Two men came out and shot him several times before driving off. The car was later found abandoned. Speaking at the FSC yesterday, his mother, Lorraine Howard, said her son was a loving young man who had recently returned from abroad after completing his studies. He had two children aged two and six and was an accountant with Sagicor.
An unidentified aunt called on the media to highlight the ills of society so that they could be addressed. She added her nephew’s murder was “a sign of the times in T&T,” adding: “T&T is not becoming a nice place. It really isn't.” In the other killing, homicide detectives say they are reviewing closed circuit television footage in the hope of apprehending the killer/s of Shane Harper.
Police said around 11.30 pm on Tuesday, residents of Belmont Circular Road heard several gunshots and called the police. When police arrived they found Harper, of La Canoa, Santa Cruz, dead at Carr Lane, off Carr Street, Belmont Circular Road. Police are unsure of a motive behind his killing. With the three murders the toll is now 94. The figure for the same period last year was 113.