Relatives of an Arouca man who was gunned down at his home early yesterday are disputing claims by some in the community that he was a pest.
Jonathan Braithwaite, 23, of Persad Street, off First Street, Five Rivers, Arouca, was shot several times as he slept at 3 am. Relatives said he was the grandson of the late Selwyn Richardson, a former T&T Attorney General was murdered outside his Cascade home in 1995.
Braithwaite, who did odd jobs around the neighbourhood, was the eldest of four children. His mother, Crystal Braithwaite, said he was “a loving child who just chose the wrong friends”.
She admitted that her son had been locked up several times for “small things” but insisted that it hadn’t changed his personality as he remained someone who “loved to lime and was kicksy”.
However, a resident who was awakened by the gunfire, said Braithwaite was “a pest in a way”.
“People round here tried to get him work, but he ain’t like the work so he would just leave it. Plus, he would borrow money and don’t pay it back.”
Braithwaite’s friends appeared shocked as they stood in the road outside his home, looking toward the room where he had been killed. They all maintained that he was “a good person”.
Braithwaite’s great-aunt Selma Richardson, the sister of former attorney general Selwyn Richardson, said she had planned to take him to live at her home in Plymouth, Tobago, to keep him out of trouble and watch over him.
“It was kinda baffling to hear the news. He was quiet just like my brother whose grandson he was,” she said.
