8 killed over bloody long weekend

Easter celebrations this year were marred by eight homicides which were reported between Friday afternoon and Monday evening up to press time.

Dead are Sheldon Amoroso, 42; Samdeo Benny, 65; Dale Richards, 38; Nigel Waltz, 27; Adesh Debi, 35; Junior Sanchez, 39; Kieron Ramkhelawan, 31, and Mikhail Dyer, 24.

Of these eight homicides, only one suspect was held up to press time, while investigators have publicly indicated their search for three men.

The “bloody long weekend”, as senior officers in the Homicide Bureau have described it, began on Thursday night when Sheldon Amoroso was fatally wounded.

Amoroso was chopped multiple times at about 9.30 p.m. on Thursday, with a cutlass after getting into a fight with a man at his Waterloo Street, Arouca home. Amoroso fell to the ground wounded, but alive.

He later told police he pretended to be dead, causing his attacker to leave.

Neighbours called police and emergency health services, who arrived to find Amoroso alive, but seriously wounded. He was rushed to the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex for emergency treatment. While at hospital Amoroso was able to identify his attacker and provide a description to police. However, at about 4 p.m. on Friday, he succumbed to his injuries.

The next incident took place at about 10 p.m. on Friday, when a 65-year-old man was killed in front of his family.

According to police reports, Samdeo Manooge Benny of Caratal Road, Cumuto, had just arrived home with his wife and three children.

As the family exited the car and Benny went to close the gate, a gunman wearing a bandana over his face approached the group and shot Benny multiple times about the body.

Benny’s family watched in horror as the salesman collapsed to the ground and the killer fled on foot.

The wounded man was rushed to the Arima District Hospital. However, he died while being treated.

Then at about 11.45 p.m. on Friday, police were called out to Main Street, Beetham Gardens, after several loud explosions were heard. When they arrived, they found Dale Richards of Ash Street, Beetham Gardens, lying on the ground in a pool of blood.

Richards was underneath a shed near Main Street, opposite Third Street. He had been shot multiple times about the face and upper torso. He was declared dead at the scene by the District Medical Officer.

While police were in the middle of their crime scene investigation, more gunshots were heard in the area. At about 12,20 a.m. on Saturday, police at the scene of Richards’s murder heard loud explosions coming from Fourth Street, Beetham Gardens.

Police went to investigate and found Richards’s cousin, 27-year-old Nigel Waltz, bleeding from injuries to his upper body. He was rushed to the Port of Spain General Hospital, however, he died while undergoing treatment.

The fifth homicide was reported at about 6 a.m. on Saturday in Rio Claro.

According to police reports, Adesh Debi of Ecclesville, Rio Claro, was at his home at around 6 a.m. when it was stormed by men armed with a gun.

There was a confrontation in which Debi was shot in the head. The men then escaped.

Debi was taken to the Mayaro District Health Facility where he was pronounced dead on arrival. Police officers from Rio Claro Police Station are continuing investigations. -

The sixth homicide was reported just a few hours later at about 10.30 a.m. on Saturday.

According to police reports, officers received information which led them to the home of Junior Bernard Sanchez in San Rafael.

When the lawmen arrived at the house at Joseph Morantez Trace, they discovered his lifeless body lying on a bedroom floor next to a bed.

Police said he had been shot once to the back of the head.

The next incident took place at about 6 p.m. on Saturday, when a 31-year-old man was killed during a robbery.

According to reports, Kieron Ramkhelawan, along his girlfriend and three children, had returned home from an afternoon of swimming at a nearby pool. A few minutes after the group arrived at the home of his girlfriend along Bennett Drive, Palmiste, two gunmen forced their way inside and announced a robbery.

Ramkhelawan, of Montrose, Chaguanas, resisted and was shot in the chest by one of the armed men. The men then fled the scene after completing their robbery.

The police and emergency health services were notified, however, the 31-year-old died before arriving at the San Fernando General Hospital.

The final incident, up to press time, took place on Easter Sunday at about 3 p.m. with the killing of Mikhail Dyer of Eagle Avenue, Enterprise, Chaguanas.

According to police reports, the father of three was shot multiple times inside his home by two assailants. He managed to stumble outside before collapsing in the front yard of his home, where he died.

The two gunmen also shot and wounded Dyer’s wife Tina.

Police responded immediately and put up a dragnet in the area. They detained an armed man on a bicycle a few blocks away from the crime scene.

All eight incidents are engaging the attention of Homicide Officers.

The murder toll, however, has been pushed up to 103 as a result of the incidents. The corresponding toll for 2014 was 118.