[www.inewsguyana.com] – This country recorded its 400th murder on Saturday when a 35-year-old Carapo man was bludgeoned to death with a hammer by a friend on Dump Road, Arima.
According to an eyewitness, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, just before 6 pm, the victim, Andre Ali, who lived close by at Unity Trace, Carapo, was walking along Dump Road, with four friends. Two of the men got into an argument and began fighting. Ali intervened and parted the fight, the witness said.
The witness said after parting the fight, Ali took the suspect home but he (the suspect) returned and another altercation took place. Ali was hit at least twice to the head and died on the spot. The 22-year-old suspect fled the scene before police arrived but was caught hiding in a tree close by, the witness said.
However, up to last evening, the suspect was yet to be charged as further inquiries were being done. A police report stated that after Ali parted the fight, one of the men who was involved in the fight, returned with a hammer and struck Ali in the head.
Ali has left to mourn his wife and two sons, aged five and seven. Both the victim and suspect are scrap metal dealers and did business with each other. The witness said he was unsure if there was an underlying bad blood between the two.
The incident happened after a house lime which continued onto the road, according to the witness, who said the suspect was likely intoxicated when he committed the act. Giving his account, the witness said: “He (Ali) parted the fight (and) carried the suspect home. He (then) went a little higher up and the man come back. There was another altercation and I turn around and see him on the ground.”
Officers of the Pinto Police Post and Arima Police Station conducted preliminary inquiries. Asked to describe the victim, the witness said, “(He is) a one in a million. He always give good advice. He worked hard to achieve everything that he had today. He was good to everybody.” “Everyone knew him. You ask for a favour, he would try his best to help out.”
“It happened very quickly and it was heated but I did not expect this to happen,” he said. A post-mortem is expected to be conducted today at the T&T Forensic Science Centre, Federation Park. PC Joseph of the Homicide Bureau is investigating the murder. [Trinidad Guardian]
