Senior Reporter
sascha.wilson@guardian.co.tt
A relative of 23-year-old coconut vendor Jason Mohammed, who was gunned down in Barrackpore on Sunday night, is appealing to young people to stay away from bad company.
Maylyn Allette said she did not know why her nephew was killed, but said his mother had cautioned him many times about the friends he mingled with.
Mohammed was among a group of people liming at Platanite Trace, Rochard Road, when a silver-coloured hatchback vehicle pulled up. Three masked gunmen came out and fired at them. Mohammed ran but stumbled and fell a short distance away. He died at the scene. Another man, aged 22, was also injured.
Crime scene investigators recovered 26 spent 9mm shells at the scene.
Speaking at her Barrackpore home yesterday, Alette said her nephew was staying in the area where the shooting occurred. She said on Sunday night, she heard her sister (Mohammed’s mother) screaming and she told her Mohammed was fatally shot.
Allette said, “His mother is always talking to him about the company he keeps. She told him the company is not good company. Up to Tuesday, his mother told me she talked to him and he was not supposed to go back down the road. He did not listen. I do not know what made him go back there.”
As a mother of five children, she said she was fearful for their safety.
“I always say stay away from bad company. Friends carry you but do not bring you back. You will get killed, no care for the innocent,” she said.
“You will get hurt at the end of the day. This gang and shooting—it’s not nice. It’s when it hits your home you will feel it. I have to keep my children inside.”
Police confirmed that Mohammed had a pending court matter for firearms and ammunition. However, Homicide detectives were yet to ascertain a motive yesterday.
Officers of the Homicide Bureau of Investigations Region III are investigating.
