As tears poured down her face for her murdered grandson Darion Pierre, grandmother June Pierre posed a heartfelt question to those who violently ended his life.
“Why did you have to kill him? Why break his hand and foot and throw him in the bush like he is a dog? He has parents, grandparents, and siblings w ho love him. You could have robbed him, but you did not have to kill him,” she said.
Speaking to Guardian Media from her Rushworth Street home yesterday, the grandmother said she was in church when she got the news that Pierre’s body had been found off Cotton Hill, Bonne Aventure, Gasparillo, in a bushy area on Wednesday.
Hours before on that same day, Pierre’s relatives officially reported him missing to the police after he failed to return home from his work at Junior Sammy Contractors, Claxton Bay, on Tuesday evening. Frantic calls to his cell phone and searches proved futile.
The body of the 20-year-old man was found at the bottom of a precipice in Gasparillo by a child who was walking to school. His car and valuables were nowhere to be seen.
An autopsy conducted on his body at the Forensic Science Centre yesterday showed he died from a gunshot wound to the head. Police said it was likely he was already dead when he was thrown down Cotton Hill.
His distraught grandmother said Pierre was young and had his whole life ahead of him.
She described him as a hard-working and obedient child. Although Pierre grew up in the “Buildings” (Housing Development Corporation’s apartment complex on Rushworth Street), his grandmother said Pierre wanted to make a good life for himself.
“He said he wanted to have his own house by the age of 30. He was working since he was in school, and he saved and bought his car by age 19. That car, a Mazda 323, was his pride and joy,” she wept.
It was this car that police believe led to his murder. The car remains missing, along with Pierre’s smartwatch.
Meanwhile, Dana Pierre said her brother would have celebrated his 21st birthday on May 21.
“I believe it may be people that he knows who did this. He was always sceptical about his surroundings. I believe they probably beat him, and he fought back. Maybe they threw him out of the car. We don’t know,” she speculated. Dana added that Pierre was always careful to go to work and then come home straight.
“He always would message and ask what we cooked,” she recalled. Saying she last spoke to her brother on Monday night, Dana said she never believed that he would end up a crime victim.
“My brother is the love of my life, the love of my sister’s life. He was always happy and helpful. Anything that we need, he is here for us. I don’t have any faith we will find his killers. This is really sad for us,” the sister whispered.
Dana also said the family had lost all hope since Pierre died.
“I don’t even want to stay in Trinidad anymore. I want to take my son and leave Trinidad. Crimes just going unsolved. Families getting no closure. The killers are not being dealt with. We have no faith in the justice system,” she cried.
Dana also sent a message to Minister of National Security Fitzgerald Hinds.
“The Minister of National Security needs to do better. We feel unsafe. My son is five, and I am afraid to send him to places. My brother did not do anyone anything,” she said.
The sister added that when Pierre failed to come home on Tuesday night, relatives went searching for him.
“We drove from San Fernando to Couva. We checked the hospitals looking for my brother. All night we searched until morning when the sun came up,” Dana said as she lamented the terror he would have endured.
Anyone with information on Pierre’s murder can contact Crime Stoppers at 800-TIPS.
The country’s murder count now stands at 182.
