2 MURDERS ON CHRISTMAS EVEBy CECILY ASSON Friday, December 25 2009
Onika Dyer bravely took a bullet to her back as she tried to shield her brother Kendall from determined gunmen, who just placed her aside and shot him dead at her home in Moruga on Christmas Eve.
“I am sorry, I couldn’t save my brother,” Dyer, 31, said from a ward at San Fernando General Hospital yesterday. Her first instinct was to protect her brother and her two young sons and Dyer said she did not think of the risk to her own life when she covered Kendall, 24, with her body.
It was about 12.05 am, the start of Christmas Eve, when three gunmen drove up to Dyer’s house at Fifth Company, Moruga and opened fire on Kendall and relatives Rondon Dyer, Kurl John and Kernel Hamilton.
She and her sons, Miguel Moore, 13, and Kurshawn Floyd, six had already gone to bed but woke up when they heard gunshots and a commotion outside.
Before Dyer could move, her brother ran into her bedroom, crying he had been shot.
“My brother came in and collapsed on the bed with me and my children telling me he got shot,” Dyer, a URP worker told Newsday.
The gunmen followed Kendall inside shooting as they ran into the bedroom. A bit confused, Dyer said at first the gunmen ordered her out of the way.
“I thought of him and the boys who were asleep, I just threw myself on him and tried to shield him. But they wanted him and came in the bedroom after him. When I was hit in the back, I told them ‘is not me’ and that’s when they moved me away and shot him in the temple. They left the children unharmed and killed him.”
Dyer suffered a punctured lung but was in a stable condition yesterday.
Police believe Kendall, a construction worker of Petit Cafe, Indian Walk, Moruga, was murdered over a woman with whom he recently started a new relationship.
Two weeks ago, Kendall separated from his wife of two years Ayanna and had returned to his mother Rebecca Dyer’s home. He had gone over to spend time with Dyer when the gunmen attacked. Police said the gunmen arrived at her house in a silver Nissan B-15 car and began shooting. While Rondon, John and Hamilton managed to escape, the gunmen pursued Kendall into Dyer’s house and fatally shot him.
The gunmen returned to the car and drove off. No arrests have been made as yet.
For Dyer, however, Christmas is all over.
“I just have to forget about everything. I thank God that I was strong enough and never lost consciousness during the incident. I am sorry I couldn’t save my brother,” she said.
Hours after Kendall’s death another man was shot and killed. This second Christmas Eve victim was Andwella Montes, 28, who was gunned down at about 6 am at Pelican Crescent, Maloney Gardens. Residents found his body after they heard gunshots at Building Four. Police have no motive for his killing. The murder toll is now 490.
