Senior Reporter
anna-lisa.paul@guardian.co.tt
Four months after a Barataria family lost one of its members to gang and gun violence, they have been left in mourning again after a police-involved shooting ended the life of yet another relative.
However, several people from the area celebrated Jerry Ruben’s death, as they claimed he was part of the gangs responsible for crime in the area.
Ruben, of Upper Sixth Avenue, Malick, Barataria, was allegedly killed by officers at 7 am yesterday at his home.
It is still not known why officers had gone in search of the father of three, and the circumstances leading up to his death.
A female member of the family said this was the third relative to have died between May and yesterday, with the last two being killed seven days apart.
The family’s grief began on May 22, following the killing of Anthony Marryshow, 43. Also called “Rocky” and “Bullwinkle,” Marryshow was shot at 7.40 am on May 18, minutes after he left his house in Barataria to go to work. He was reportedly approached by a gunman and shot once in the back of the head.
Immediately following Marryshow’s killing, relatives claimed they began receiving threats that if they refused to pick a side and declare their gang affiliation or allegiance, to either the Sixx or Seven gang, they too would be killed.
The family lost another male relative to similar circumstances in 2022, and attributed his death to the ongoing gang war in the area.
Back then, the women in the family said they too were not being spared by the gangs and were being pressured to choose a side, which they had resisted. At the time, Marryshow’s relatives had begged the police to step in before further killings occurred, but they claimed their pleas fell on deaf ears.
Marryshow’s killing was followed up by the murder of Emerine Harewood, 49, on September 4. Harewood, who also lived at Upper Sixth Avenue, Malick, Barataria, was employed with the National Maintenance Training and Security Company (MTS).
A female relative of the three men yesterday said while Ruben was known to the police, he was not a pest.
Begging for answers as to why the police had gone looking for Ruben, she asked, “What did he do that warranted them to shoot at him?”
Referring to the ongoing gang warfare, she speculated that the gang members would continue to wipe out families who were refusing to pick a side.
She said moving out of the area was not an option and asked, “Why must I take my children and run? My husband’s sweat, tears and blood went into building that house.”
She described Ruben as, “a kind-hearted person who would help anybody.”
Residents, meanwhile, claimed Ruben had been in the “gang business” and had been controlling a “zone” which was in the middle of the contentious territory the two gangs were allegedly fighting over. They were highly critical of the police also, as they said officers were not in the habit of stopping and talking with people in the community.
One man said, “They does only drive with the A/C and windows up, and they does be quick to only gib gib with each other ... but they ain’t talking to we. They does know to harass we doh.”
On Sunday, the Sixth Avenue Malick Village Council issued a statement complaining about the spate of murders in the community, after four people, including local cricketer Hakim Mitchell, an innocent bystander, were killed in a week.
The village council had called for a meeting with their MP Adrian Leonce and other officials from the Ministries of National Security and Social Development, to name a few.
Leonce, during an interview with Guardian Media this week said he would be meeting with the village council and residents about the crime situation plaguing the community.