PORT OF SPAIN – A nine-year-old boy and his 15-year-old brother, both believed to be instrumental in several robberies in the Port of Spain area, were yesterday killed when gunmen entered their family’s home, forced them to lie down and shot each one in the head.
Jadel Holder and his older brother Jamal Brathwaite are dead while Glendel Alexander, a 16-year neighbour who was also inside the home with the brothers at the time of the killings, was shot in his leg.
The brothers’ mother was also at home at the time but she escaped unharmed. According to police reports, around 3 p.m., two gunmen entered the home at Petunia Avenue, Coconut Drive, Morvant, where the brothers lived.
The gunmen put the brothers to lie down on the ground. Holder tried to run upstairs, but was grabbed and he and Brathwaite were then each shot in the head.
Alexander was shot in the leg.
Both Holder and Brathwaite died on the spot. Alexander was rushed to Port of Spain General Hospital, where he is said to be currently listed in a stable condition.
Homicide detectives and officers of the North Eastern Division responded to the shooting.
Police caution tape cordoned off the roadway along Petunia Avenue from foot and mobile traffic, as crime scene investigators conducted enquiries.
Neighbours came out in their numbers to see what was transpiring.
Although the ages of the dead may be a shocker to most, neighbours told the Express this end was expected.
“This is so sad, but sooner or later it was going to come to this,” said one neighbour, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
The neighbour described the siblings as “terrors”. “They were always giving trouble,” the neighbour said.
The siblings’ deaths bring the murder toll for the year to date to 185, according to an Express tally. On June 1 last year, the figure was 154. (Trinidad Express)
