Two of the murders which took place during Carnival Tuesday in St James and Sangre Grande have been solved say police.
At a media briefing at the Police Administrative building on March 11, Acting DCP operations Curt Simon said police were concerned about the murder rate, including the seven murders that took place during the Carnival weekend and immediately after.
'I know that over that last weekend there were seven murders that persons were very much concerned about, and we too, the TTPS (TT Police Service), we too have some concerns when we see murders take on that splurge after that appearance of that reduction.'
He described it as out-of-the-ordinary when compared with the rest of the year.
On Carnival Tuesday, 30-year-old Venezuelan Irvin Joaquin Mayora was shot and killed in St James. A 61-year-old Chase Village man was charged for the murder. Also, 18-year-old Prince Charles, a national youth boxer, was stabbed to death in Sangre Grande that night.
Simon said an additional murder was solved and the police got instructions to charge them on March 10.
ACP North West Garvin Henry added that police officers always lamented the loss of life but found solace in solving murders.
He gave the example nine-year-old Aneilia Butler who died in a fire at her Beetham Gardens home on February 23, 2022. Juman Ali Sahadath , 35, was charged with her murder and appeared in court on March 5.
Also, Akeem Simon, 20, of Diego Martin was charged with the murder of David Stanley Gregoir, 29, on March 10. Gregoir was found wounded on Ariapita Avenue on February 15 and taken to the hospital where he died.
Acting Commissioner of Police Junior Benjamin pointed out the decrease in homicides compared to previous years. He said from January-March 11 there were 74, while January-March 11, 2024 had 107 murders and January-March 11, 2023 had 118.
He added that there were 14 murders for the month so far, compared with 21 in 2024.
'We continue to see an incremental decline in terms of the number of murders that is (sic) taking place in TT, and this is only because of the hard work and commitment of the Police Service and other law-enforcement agencies.'
He said the police wished there were no murders, but its officers were dealing with 'the murder situation' in a decisive manner, putting different strategies in place.
Benjamin said he met with divisional commanders and regional ACPs that morning and determined the murders were related to several factors - 19 of the murders were gang-related, 17 were from altercations and 15 were related to drugs.
In addition, he said 55 per cent of the weapons used in murders were firearms, and police were implementing various crime prevention and intervention strategies to deal with the various factors.
'Therefore, the TTPS, we continue to wage that war and we continue to ask the citizens to assist us as we continue to at least try to get those illegal firearms off the streets.
'And we are saying to persons, if you know, if you see something, please say something. Come
