Michelle Holder, the mother of the two young boys who were killed by gunmen at her Morvant home on Sunday, says she has no money to bury her sons. However, she maintained yesterday the boys were not involved in criminal activity or gangs. Holder witnessed the deaths of her two sons—Jamal, 15, and Jadel, nine—shortly after they had lunch on Sunday afternoon, when gunmen entered her home and ordered the boys to lie facedown on the floor before they were shot in the back of their heads. She was unhurt.
A single parent, Holder first sought the assistance of MP for Laventille East/Morvant Donna Cox during a 30-minute meeting at her constituency office on Monday. Speaking with the T&T Guardian yesterday, Holder confirmed she did not have the money to finance her sons’ funerals, adding that Cox told her to seek assistance from the Ministry of the People and Social Development.
Cox said the Government had failed in the fight against crime and was not being honest about the issue, saying crime was not decreasing. She called on the Government to implement effective measures to address the crime problem. She also said there was need for more social services to be provided to citizens, including single, unemployed parents. Yesterday, Holder said she was still in the process of sourcing the funds and would not be in a position to confirm a date for the funerals until that was sorted out.
She said she was not visited by any Government official as she attempted to bury her children. Cox, however, presented her with a food hamper. Holder said she was being assisted through a food card but it expired a few months ago and she was hoping to be readmitted to the programme. Holder again took issue with continued reports that her sons were bandits. “I don’t like what people were saying in the media about my sons. They were not thieves,” she added.
She said it was true that the elder child had dropped out of school but said he was about to begin classes at the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) in September. She said the younger son was always with her and was a nice child.