“My 17-year-old son had dreamed to open his business and be a businessman one day.”
This was the comment from the mother of teenager Jeremy Baptiste yesterday, as she begged for justice following the police shooting which claimed his life.
Baptiste, 17, of Febeau Village, San Juan, was shot during an exchange with police after they reportedly intercepted a car he was in.
It was claimed the four suspects shot at officers who returned fire, injuring Baptiste.
The injured Baptiste was taken to the Port-of-Spain General Hospital, where he later died while undergoing treatment.
As tears rolled down her face as she spoke with reporters at the Forensic Science Centre, St James, Baptiste’s mother, who asked not to be named, remembered his assurance that he would look after her and the family when his business took off.
She said Baptiste sometimes expressed dreams of being a mechanic, as well as opening and operating his own funeral agency.
Saying he was aware of the investment needed to get into this field, she said he had taken to visiting particular funeral homes to assist in preparing bodies for cremation and burials.
The mother said she had secured a passport appointment for her and her six children on June 6.
“From there, we woulda gone to see about our visa,” she said, adding, “He woulda be the first one to leave Trinidad to go abroad.”
The mother called for the truth about her son’s death to be revealed.
“The police are saying one thing, but me as a mother, I just want to feel comfortable in my soul knowing what is the truth. The story that they send out is not adding up and I want to get to the bottom of it, knowing my son,” she said.
Baptiste’s siblings were said to not be coping well since his death. His mother said his only wish was to see the younger ones emerge successful in life.
“Jeremy was a child filled with love,” she shared.
However, the mother admitted that her son had been speaking with people who “were not on the right track”. She said despite parental advice and his continued assurance that he knew right from wrong, the situation was not adding up.