The agony of crimeBy ALEXANDER BRUZUAL Thursday, February 21 2013
A MOTHER’S tears. A wife’s heartache. A daughter’s nightmare realised. A community in agony. There were no words to comfort relatives, neighbours and friends of 46-year-old Floyd Corridon who was shot dead in Straker Village, Laventille, near his home.
Many persons were unable to control themselves with some screaming and others weeping as Corridon, described as a beloved family man, was gunned down in some bushes.
The agony that Merle Lamorelle experienced as she saw her son’s bloodstained body on the ground yesterday, mirrors those felt by other persons who also lost loved ones through murder as the country reels from several days of savagery with criminals running rampant. Not even the police were spared.
Following seven murders committed over the weekend, Tuesday was a bloody day in Trinidad. A policeman was shot and killed on Tuesday, a man was gunned down shortly after leaving the funeral service of a murdered man in Arouca on Tuesday, a farmer was beaten and then chopped to death in Claxton Bay on Tuesday and a San Juan man was killed in his home as he lay sleeping.
Yesterday, the bloodshed did not let up. Apart from Corridon’s slaying in Laventille, a Beetham man was fatally shot and his home fire-bombed.
Police reported that Corridon of Lp 52 Picton Road, Straker Village, Laventille, was standing near a culvert along Picton Road with another man, when they were approached by two men.
After a brief confrontation, the two men pulled out firearms and pointed it at Corridon and the other man. The two attempted to flee the scene with Corridon running through the backyard of his neighbour’s home heading to the forests behind the road.
However, one of the gunmen followed Corridon and eventually caught up with him. Ten gunshots rang out, followed by silence. As the gunmen made their escape, Corridon slumped to the ground, bleeding from several wounds. He died at the scene.
His mother Merle Corridon was overcome with grief. “They killed my boy. Just yesterday I saw him. He was good. He was talking about work...about plans to take his daughter out later this month. Now he gone!
“Oh God Father, why? My boy helped everybody. No one, no one could speak ill of my child. Lord, why they take my boy from me,” Merle cried out. Another man, believed to be a relative, had to be held back as he tried to get at Corridon’s body even as he wept.
Officers led by Snr Supt Nanan and including ASP Ajith Persad, Inspector Dominic, PC Romeo, Cpl Paul and PC Bellille, along with officers from the Inter Agency Task Force, Besson Street Police Station, Port-of-Spain CID and the Homicide Investigations Bureau visited the scene.
Corridon said her son’s death had pierced her heart. She had this message for criminals and gunmen: “As a mother, this pain you have caused me...no mother should ever feel. Put down the gun! You all causing too much pain, too much agony. Too many people are dying by the bullet. Too many mothers are suffering, too many wives are now widows and too many children are fatherless! End this madness! Enough!”
Police said they had no leads or motive for Corridon’s slaying. His body was removed to the Forensic Science Centre in St James for an autopsy.
Murdered while he slept
On Tuesday night, at ten-thirty, 28-year-old Kyle Williams was gunned down at his Prizgar Road, San Juan, home. Police reported that two men broke into Williams’ home and shot him several times as he lay in bed next to his girlfriend, who was not harmed.
The woman’s screams alerted neighbours who contacted the police. Despite a search mounted by officers, Williams’ killers were not held. As in the Corridon slaying, police yesterday said they had no motive and have not yet arrested anyone. Police sources said the woman who survived the ordeal is in a state of shock and would be counselled by officials from the Police Service’s Victims and Support Unit. Williams’ body was also taken to the Forensic Science Centre where an autopsy was scheduled for yesterday.
Bloodshed in Beetham
Then at about midday yesterday, less than an hour after police and soldiers locked down all of Beetham during a major anti-crime exercise, 35-year-old Daryl Daniel was shot and killed.
Police reported that Daniel was at his home in Phase Five, Beetham Gardens, when two masked men broke into the house.
Upon entering the house, the intruders pointed their guns at Daniel’s mother and ordered her to leave the house.
As she ran out, the woman screamed a warning at Daniel, who reportedly jumped through a window on the top floor in a bid to escape.
But the gunmen were also quick to react and fired several shots at Daniel hitting him in his chest and abdomen. As he lay in the yard bleeding, the gunmen lit an unknown incendiary device which caused an explosion and fire in the house, which was burnt to the ground. They then calmly walked away.
A report was made to the police and Daniel was rushed to the Port-of-Spain General Hospital where he died while undergoing emergency surgery. Some of the officers who were on the lockdown exercise in the Beetham returned to the area to carry out investigations into Daniel’s killing. These slayings have pushed the murder toll to 66. No arrest has been made and when Newsday visited the scene yesterday, no one was at the burnt out ruins of Daniel’s home. Residents refused to be interviewed citing fear of reprisals. Investigations are continuing.
