Senior Reporter
kevon.felmine@guardian.co.tt
Popular maxi-taxi driver and self-proclaimed homosexual Kennty Mitchell was gunned down outside his Ste Madeleine home on Friday night.
Mitchell, 47, was hosting a party that neighbours say had been a fixture every Friday for more than a year. While residents could not confirm if the murder was linked to these events, they described the chaotic scene that erupted after the fatal shooting.
Eyewitnesses recounted seeing vehicles lining the street, as was customary on Friday nights, with Mitchell greeting guests as they arrived. However, the revelry turned into horror when, as Mitchell approached one vehicle to greet its occupants, a gunman opened fire. He was struck multiple times before the shooter sped off.
Guests who heard the gunshots rushed outside and fled the scene.
Police are yet to determine a motive for the killing. Ste Madeleine officers responded to a report of a shooting at approximately 11.40 pm but by the time they arrived just five minutes later, the street was deserted, save for Mitchell’s lifeless body lying near his maxi-taxi. Investigators recovered several spent bullet casings.
A district medical officer examined the body and ordered its removal to the Forensic Science Centre in St James. Investigators from the Homicide Bureau of Investigations Region Three and the Crime Scene Unit processed the scene but had no suspects.
At Mitchell’s residence yesterday, neighbours said his sister was not at home. Bloodstains could still be seen at the spot where he was fatally shot.
Mitchell had complained about persistent harassment, discrimination and the alienation he faced as an openly gay man in T&T. He described being jeered by the public and targeted by law enforcement, and said he had once considered seeking asylum abroad.
In 2010, he was awarded nearly $200,000 in compensation for wrongful arrest and false imprisonment. He also claimed to have been wrongfully ticketed on several occasions.
