A somber, resolute gathering of community activists and concerned locals unfolded on San Fernando’s Harris Promenade yesterday, centered on a single urgent plea: bring home the body of two-year-old Angelo Tobias Plaza and deliver justice for his untimely death. The toddler went missing two weeks prior in Goodwood, Tobago, and his suspected murder has sent waves of shock and grief across the entire nation of Trinidad and Tobago. Participants held high a banner emblazoned with Angelo’s photo and the words “Justice for Baby Angelo. We are praying for you,” before lighting candles, offering hymns, and saying prayers for both the recovery of the child’s remains and comfort for his devastated family, as official investigations into his killing continue.
Speaking for the assembled group, organizer Kevin Lalchan — a veteran activist who has previously led vigils for other high-profile local tragedies, including the 2019 pipeline deaths of four divers working for Paria Fuel Trading Company and the 2023 killing of teenager Mariah Seenath — said that both divine help and persistent public pressure are needed to bring the case to a close. “We want closure. We want justice. We want baby Angelo’s body to be found so that he may get his final rites,” Lalchan told attendees. He also expressed public solidarity with a separate protest gathering that took place yesterday in Port of Spain, organized to demand answers for Kaia Sealy, a woman shot by police on January 20 in an incident that left her husband Joshua Samaroo dead. Sealy currently faces charges of manslaughter and three counts of aggravated assault with a firearm. “Justice must be served for each and every one. While fellow citizens are burning their fire in Port of Spain, I decided to burn my fire in San Fernando. But I stand and support those who are rallying for justice for Joshua and Kaia,” Lalchan said.
Lalchan used the vigil to shine a light on a growing crisis of vulnerable community members across the country, arguing that Angelo’s killing exposes a critical gap in child protection that demands urgent systemic and social action. “It grieves me to know that we as a nation cannot protect our women, children and elderly folks. Who shall stand for the innocent when they are being slaughtered? Where are the voices Trinidad and Tobago? Where is the national outrage, concern and interest? Today we stand here tugging at your conscience,” he added. Reviving the long-held community principle that “it takes a village to raise a child,” Lalchan emphasized that every sector of society — from individual families and local schools to regional communities and national law enforcement — shares responsibility for keeping children safe. “We must be prepared to go the distance to protect our beloveds,” he said.
The group issued a formal call for state agencies and law enforcement bodies to adopt more proactive intervention strategies when children are identified as being at risk of harm, noting that early, decisive action could stop countless future tragedies before they occur. Quinlan Achat, a community advocate who goes by the public name Empress Q, reinforced this call, stressing that Angelo’s death is far from an isolated incident in Trinidad and Tobago. “This is not a one-off incident; every day, teenagers and babies are missing. This is so tragic. It shows that families do not have the support or community. My heart grieves. We are citizens, and who else will stand up for justice? I think of the 300 or 500 families that grieve due to gun violence every year in this country, and we multiply that over the last ten years. We represent the most high Jah, and the most high nah sleep,” Achat said.
goThe San Fernando gathering was framed by attendees as both a demand for accountability and a collective act of healing for a nation shaken by the young child’s death, which has already sparked widespread national outrage and sorrow. As of yesterday, Angelo’s stepfather, Shannon Miller of Goodwood, Tobago, has been formally charged with the toddler’s murder and is scheduled to make his first court appearance this week.