Shaken after hearing gunshots ringing out as she drove along the Churchill-Roosevelt Highway (CRH) in Piarco on Monday, Carlsbury Lewis’ niece passed the crime scene, unaware that it was her uncle being gunned down.
On her way home, she heard the radio reports about the incident but it was when she got home and received the call that Lewis had been one of the victims that it registered with her that their family had lost a loved one to gang warfare.
Lewis, 51, of Mohammed Street, St Augustine, died around 8.15 pm on Monday, after gunmen opened fire on his car as he was driving along the westbound lane of the CRH in the vicinity of Piarco Plaza.
The passenger in Lewis’ car, identified as Shamba Chandler of Maracas Valley, St Joseph, also died at the scene.
Carlsbury Lewis of Mohammed Street, St Augustine.
The car later crashed into a metal barrier along the shoulder of the CRH just before the Oropune Gardens Development, as the gunmen turned south along Piarco Boulevard.
Onlookers claimed Lewis’ car had been riddled with bullets which were lodged in the front windscreen, bonnet, both front doors and the back door on the right side.
Meanwhile, a 33-year-old Sangre Grande man who was also driving west sustained damage to the left rear door of his Grey Suzuki Baleno during the incident.
As he heard the shooting and realised his vehicle had been shot at, the driver reportedly pulled onto the shoulder, exited, and took cover until a Highway Patrol Unit secured the scene.
Forensic officers retrieved seven 7.62 mm shell casings; 11 5.56 mm shell casings; and 12 9 mm shell casings at the scene.
Still stunned yesterday as they identified Lewis’ body at the Forensic Science Centre, St James, relatives described the father of three girls, aged 31, 28, and 14, as a “hustler”.
Shamba Chandler of Mt D’Or Road and Maracas/St Joseph.
They said Lewis, who had been employed with the San Juan/Laventille Regional Corporation as a truck driver, was sometimes known for taking on private-hire jobs during his spare time as he worked hard to provide for his girls. The family admitted they had not met Chandler before.
A female relative recalled, “He was a jolly person.”
She smiled broadly as she revealed, “He was always on chupidness...clowning and performing the fool.”
Fondly referred to as Berry, she said he would respond to monikers such as, “Redman, Berry, anything you can think of with Berry in it they called him.”
Lewis’ family said he was a drinker who loved life.
One of the women said they would miss his affection and love for the family.
“He would always pass in and check up on you, and say he would check ya tomorrow. He was always on the go, always busy doing some kind of work. He’s always hustling. He would pick up scrap iron and sell and all kind of thing because he still had his last daughter to see about.”
Insisting Lewis had been a good father and that his kids could attest to this fact, she added, “They are doing well for now. The little one can’t cry no more.”
Saddened by the killing as Lewis had been heading home after stopping in to check on the extended family in D’Abadie, the relative said the crime situation was, “Overbearing right now.”
She sought to rationalise it, “My take on this is like the songs that they play...when you listen to the songs, they tell you how a criminal thinks and it’s really appalling and disgusting because when you lose a family member to violence, it’s just not a normal death. They taking a loved one, but they don’t care who is what and what is what.”
She was careful not to apportion blame. “We can’t blame the Government really. But at the same time, who do we blame?”
Echoing Police Commissioner Erla Harewood-Christopher’s call for the nation to pray for a godly intervention alongside crime-fighting strategies employed by the T&T Police Service, Lewis’ relatives added, “This country needs to pray, open our hearts and pray to get this crime curbed because it is ridiculously overbearing.
“I never thought I would be interviewed for something like this, and I don’t have words to say exactly how I am feeling. I am ‘feelingless’, that’s the best way I can put it.”
