An aspiring police officer who thought he was being targeted by robbers for his flashy jewellery, was murdered on Monday night.
At around 9.45 pm, Reon Francis, 28, of John Elie Road, Chase Village, Chaguanas, was leaving the Maestro Bar when a gunman approached him and opened fire. After shooting the father of one in the chest, the gunman rummaged through the dying man’s pocket before escaping in a silver Nissan Tiida.
Francis, who failed the police entrance examination twice, had confided in his brother days before that he was being followed by a silver Nissan Tiida. He believed the people in the vehicle wanted to rob him.
His mother, Debra Francis, who spoke with reporters at the Forensic Science Centre, St James, yesterday, said the younger of her two sons was not involved in criminal activity but had a flamboyant lifestyle. But on Monday night, because he felt he was a target of a possible robbery, Francis chose not to wear any of his jewellery, she said.
She said after working for six years as a plant operator, Francis was retrenched and had recently started working as a plant processor at Carib Brewery. However, his dream was to become a police officer or pursue a career at Petrotrin.
“He was a very ambitious young man. I don’t know what happen but I feel it’s jealousy,” she said.
“Plenty people out here suffering and can’t get a thing, and they envious of people who have. Is a jealousy thing, they know he like to flam and then he had a mouth so if you tell him something, he would tell you back something and he used to cuss. But it’s not like he going out of his way to harass people.”
Francis’ murder took the toll for the year so far to 223. In the same period last year there were 206 murders.
