Gang warfare in Diego Martin claimed the lives of two men in separate incidents yesterday and Saturday night. Police said around 9.45 am yesterday, Darwin Garvin, 32, of Pierre Felix Road, Diego Martin, was found dead. Residents heard loud explosions and saw him lying on the road and contacted the police. Cpl Lynton and PCs Kernanham and Campbell responded and found his body in a drain.
On Saturday night around 10 pm, Odary Rahim Joseph Phillip, 20, of Upper Mercer Road, Alvarez Lopez, 46, of Store Drive, Petit Valley, and Stephen Khan, 50, of North Post Road, were shot by gunmen. The men were liming when they were approached by three armed men who opened fire on them. Phillip died at the scene. Investigators said Phillip was a suspect in several murders and the other men may have been bystanders.
Homicide officers believe both killings were gang-related. Investigations continued into several other killings which occurred this weekend. Corie Charles, 30, a “PH” driver, of Chocolate Alley, was shot dead on Duke Street and Marion Delpesche, 18, was killed in Point Cumana on Friday. On Saturday, the body of a man was found on Blanchisseuse Road, Arima, and an unknown man was murdered at Upper Thomasine Street. There has been an average of 36 murders a month since August.
This makes probable the prospect of December’s body count hitting the 19 required to make 2013 an even bloodier year than 2012. This weekend brought the murder count for 2013 to 360, which dampens the hope for a reduction from last year’s total of 379 murders. This spike in the toll comes as the nation mourns six-year-old Keyana Cumberbatch, brutally murdered and sexually assaulted by her killer before being placed in a barrel in her mother’s apartment.
Up until August, the statistics told a different tale. Reports showed an alleviation in the murder toll with an average of 30 murder a month: a modest improvement from the average of 34 for the same period in 2012. The murder rate in 2012 had already shot up 12 per cent from 2011. If the killing continues, 2013 could be the second year in a row that the annual toll has risen.