SHALIZA HASSANALI
Mayhem and madness.
That's how residents of Morvant have described the recent upsurge in gun violence and killings in their community.
As the country nears its 100th murder for this year, nine of these took place in Morvant.
A compilation by the Sunday Guardian showed that in the last 11 months, there were 29 killings in Morvant–a 14-year-old boy was among those killed, and there were three double murders and four police-related killings. In a shooting spree in the area last year, innocent children, women and the elderly became collateral damage. There were other random shootings in the area where people were injured but no one was killed.
The constant gunfire and murders have left people in the Morvant area gripped by fear.
One Chinapoo resident, who refused to reveal her identity, pleaded for the gun violence and war among rival gangs to end.
Another woman, who withheld her name, said that she lost her son at Coconut Drive last year. She called for a lockdown in Morvant, stating that several communities were under siege and at the mercy of gang leaders and members.
"The murders are out of control now. The gangs are taking over. People are scared to come out of their homes. What going on in Morvant is mayhem, madness and massacres. This place needs a lockdown. Jesus, take the wheel," the woman shouted.
While in the past there would be an occasional killing in Morvant, the residents said the community started noticing an increase in murders towards the end of last year and it has now reached "disturbing figures."
Last August, pandemonium broke out in Mon Repos when two gunmen exited a vehicle and opened fire on Eusibio Roberts and Carlton "Plaits" Wharwood. The men were standing near a shop.
Roberts was hit multiple times in the body while Wharwood ran inside a nearby basketball court where children were training for a football competition. The men gave chase and shot Wharwood multiple times. One of the bullets also struck eight-year-old Javan Prince's head. An 11-year-old boy was shot twice in his leg.
The shootings took place hours after then-acting police commissioner McDonald Jacob announced that more police officers will be added to the patrol grid in five police divisions.
Shockwaves rippled through Coconut Drive last November when State witness Jehlano Romney was sprayed with bullets in the kitchen of a relative's home.
Romney, of Diego Martin, was the state witness in the April 2022 killing of PC Clarence Gilkes. He was initially accused of the murder but was later exonerated after an autopsy and ballistic testing ruled that Gilkes died from a police bullet.
Days later the calm at Upper Romain Lands was shattered by the disturbing and horrifying news of the killing of 14-year-old Marlon Stewart.
The teenager was liming with a group of men in front of his grandmother's house when armed men emerged from a nearby track and opened fire.
Hours later, four gunmen alighted from a vehicle and rained bullets on Omari Besson and Errol "Babash" Stewart while they were working on a box drain at Geranium Drive.
The killing spree continued when four men were gunned down in separate incidents last month.
One of the victims was Nkosi Lewis a member of the gang named Seven.
In early February, Morvant recorded its first double murder for the year with the killing of Kody Robley and Dwayne "Home Alone" Danglad at Crowe Trace, Chinapoo, which left residents fearing for their lives.
On Valentine's Day, February 14, Alfredo Alexander was standing near his home at Second Caledonia Extension when men armed with high-powered weapons alighted from a vehicle and peppered him with bullets.
While the rest of the country was enjoying the Mother of all Carnivals, another double killing occurred on Carnival Tuesday. Elvis Anthony Pearson and Brad Keon Thomas were gunned down while inside an incomplete house at Second Caledonia. Three other people were also shot and had to be taken to hospital for medical attention.
In the last 52 days (from January 1 to February 21) data showed that nine men lost their lives to gun violence in Morvant. Another man was killed during a police-involved shooting.
Many of the murders occurred in Seconda Caledonia.
Some of the areas in Morvant where the violence erupted were Pelican Extension, St Francois Valley Road, Romain Lands, Second Caledonia, Chinapoo, Jacobin Street, Pelican Extension, Celestine Drive and Coconut Drive.
Most of the shootings, according to reports, took place while the victims and other men were liming in groups outside their homes.
Others were gunned down while at a basketball court, cooking, bathing, landscaping or working on a job site.
File: Crime Scene Investigators search for evidence following the murder of Keston Baldwin, 35, who was one of two people shot and killed at Romain Lands, Morvant, in September 2022.
ABRAHAM DIAZ
It is an alarming situation that must be addressed–activist
Morvant, a PNM stronghold, is located in the southern foothills of the Northern Range. It borders the Lady Young Road on the North and penetrates the communities of Mon Repos on the North East, Barataria on the East, Laventille on the South West and Belmont on the West.
Morvant community activist Jamaal Shabazz, speaking from Guyana where he works as the men's national senior team coach, expressed worry about the upsurge in killings in the community.
"I am very concerned with what seems to be the transference of this ignorant war to our community in Morvant. I have an idea of some of the persons who are responsible for misleading these young men. I am making my own inquiries. I live in the community and though I am not there I feel a strong sense of concern. It is an alarming situation that needs to be addressed."
He said it would take a few days for him to get to the bottom of these killings.
"I have some information but I still need more."
Shabazz said there are level-headed people in the community who can influence these trigger-happy youths to turn away from the gun.
As the owner of Caledonia AIA Football Club, Shabazz said he will take the first step.
"I am prepared to make whatever sacrifice is necessary to bring our community to some measure of normalcy."
The former 1990 insurrectionist with the Jamaat al Muslimeen pleaded with parents to take responsibility for their children's actions.
"Parents and guardians must take responsibility for their own and not turn a blind eye to say my son was an angel. The horse has already bolted. Who let go of the horse does not matter now. It's a matter of reining the horse in."
'Nowhere for youths to exhale'
Former national player Nevick Denoon said the youths are turning to crime because of a lack of sporting events.
"The whole situation is that there is nowhere to exhale. We are seeing that idle hands are turning into a devil's workshop. "
Denoon said he was the only person who has been trying to keep the younger ones focused on football.
"Right now some parents have no control over their kids. Others are parentless. So when they get hungry they turn to the gun. It's really sad to see where we have reached."
Over the years, Morvant produced footballers like Dennis Lawrence, Russell Latapy and Arnold Dwarika.
"The community was united, now it's fractured. It does not have anything to bring us together, the glue that brought us together was sports and culture, and now there is absolutely nothing going on. "
He said the young boys who go astray are roped into the gangs.
"You have to join a gang...they don't want anybody on the fringes. They (gang members) blocking you in the road and would ask which side you are on. When they find out you are not associated with a gang you are branded an informer. That is a problem for you right there. It is really a social decay."
Gang members range from ages 15 to 35–police
A senior police officer who spoke on the condition of anonymity said that members of Rasta City and Muslim gangs once controlled the roost in Morvant.
"Now there are Sixx, Seven and ABG gangs also operating in the district."
Each gang, he said, fights for turf. The gang members range from ages 15 to 35.
"What we have observed is that a lot of persons (gang members) have migrated from Port-of-Spain into Morvant. These men joining the gang have social issues; either their parents die, their father is in jail or they have no one to guide them on the right path. So these gang leaders take them under their wings."
He said Second Caledonia which was relatively peaceful recently turned into a crime hotspot.
The gang members in Second Caledonia use tracks behind people's backyards to move in and out. "That whole area is unplanned development."
The officer said people have been arrested, and the Northeastern Division has been taking the fight head-on.
"We end up in a lot of police shootings. It's challenging. We try to reach out to these youths through community policing but the easiest way is to join the gangs."
Adrian Leonce
ANISTO ALVES
No word from MP Adrian Leonce
The Sunday Guardian sent a WhatsApp message to Laventille East/Morvant MP Adrian Leonce but he did not respond. Calls to his cell phone on Thursday and Friday also went unanswered.
2022 killings:
April: Bryan Belgrave
June: Joshua Stephens
July: Clinton Cain
Triston "Ratty" Springer (police-related killing.)
August: Gamal Waldron
Jessi Bramble
Carlton "Plaits" Wharwood
Eusibio Robert
September: Shannon Kadoo
October: A man identified only as Randy of Grando Street was killed
Stephen Edwards
Kareem Quasi
November: Marlon Stewart
-Jehlano Romney
-Noel Fermin
-Omari Besson
-Errol Stewart
December:
Rivaldo White aka Sleepy (police-related killing)
Isiah "Ackbar" James (police-related killing)
2023 killings:
January: Isiah James
Tyrone Ramage
Nkosi Lewis
Nicholas Thomas
February: Kody Robley
Dwayne "Home Alone" Danglad
Alfredo Alexander
Anthony Elvis Pearson
Brad Keon Thomas
Ricardo Martin (police-related shooting)
An unidentified man is making his way to MP Adrian Leonce's office in Morvant on Thursday.
ABRAHAM DIAZ