What was supposed to be a quiet morning of beauty treatments and relaxation at a popular Couva spa descended into unthinkable violence yesterday, when two women were fatally shot inside the Soho Beauty Haven located at Veneris Plaza, at the intersection of Southern Main Road and Charlotte Street. The victims were identified as 55-year-old spa proprietor Kavita Deosaran of Freeport, and 64-year-old regular spa patron Cheryl Dixon, a local resident from La Croix Street, Couva.
Law enforcement reports confirm the attack unfolded at approximately 9:20 a.m., roughly 17 minutes after both victims arrived at the plaza at 9:03 a.m. and entered the first-floor spa. Surveillance footage and witness accounts detail that a slim, dark-skinned male suspect clad in a blue coverall and ski mask walked into the business, exchanged brief words with both women before opening fire: he first shot Dixon, then chased Deosaran through the spa and fatally wounded her before fleeing the plaza on a waiting motorcycle. Responding officers from the Central Division Task Force Area South arrived within minutes of the E999 Police Command Centre receiving emergency calls, and interviewed a witness who had observed the full sequence of the attack. Crime scene technicians recovered 14 spent 9-millimetre shell casings and five projectiles from the premises, but found no usable fingerprints that could help identify the perpetrator. Notably, none of the spa’s on-duty staff – which included a pregnant employee – sustained injuries, and no cash or property was reported stolen from the business, leaving investigators with no clear established motive for the targeted, brazen attack.
The plaza’s anonymous landlord confirmed he has turned over all building security camera footage to homicide detectives, and shared that he was inside the property when the gunfire erupted. “I heard dozens of shots ring out – it was impossible to miss,” he told local reporters. “Kavita was a wonderful, long-standing tenant who ran a well-loved business here for three years, with a huge base of loyal clients. Cheryl was one of her regulars, a familiar face around the plaza.”
The shock of the killings has rippled far beyond the spa’s walls. A school serving children with special needs operates on the same first floor of the plaza, and one parent of a newly enrolled two-year-old student expressed profound distress, noting his child had only started attending the institution earlier that week. “My son’s teacher said he was unharmed and unaware of the chaos, but I am completely shaken,” the parent shared. “I cannot fathom how a shooting like this can happen in broad daylight, right when classes are in session. I am now questioning whether it is safe to keep sending him here.”
For Dixon’s family, the loss is compounded by the senseless nature of the attack. Her sister Susan Hospedales told reporters she could barely process the news of her sister’s death, explaining that Dixon was a hardworking, outspoken small business owner with a husband and two grown children, who had no known connections to criminal activity. “We have never experienced anything like this in our family before,” Hospedales said, standing on Southern Main Road after undertakers removed her sister’s body from the crime scene. “I was calling around asking which hospital she had been taken to, and that is when they told me she was gone. It is impossible to feel safe anywhere anymore – you go to get your hair done for a normal, nice day, and you get gunned down? That is unthinkable. I know my sister was not the intended target, and all we want is justice. No one has the right to take an innocent person’s life like that – that is not for any human to decide.”
Deosaran’s family shared a public statement via the Soho Beauty Haven social media page yesterday, thanking the community for the outpouring of support and requesting space to grieve privately. “It is with profound sadness that we acknowledge the tragic events surrounding our Soho Beauty Haven family,” the post read. “During this incredibly difficult time, we ask for privacy, compassion, and understanding as we grieve this devastating loss. We sincerely appreciate your patience and ask that you keep everyone affected and their loved ones in your thoughts and prayers.”
The tragedy marks another violent chapter for Deosaran’s family, who have faced high-profile criminal targeting in years past. In 2004, an arson fire of unknown origin destroyed the 75-acre compound belonging to her father, prominent sanitation contractor Jawarhalal Deosaran, and in 2012, her son Rodney Deosaran was kidnapped and held for 42 days, with kidnappers issuing a $10 million ransom demand before he was eventually released unharmed.
Detective Constable Bhola of the Region Three Homicide Bureau of Investigations is leading the ongoing probe into the double murder. As of last night, the national murder toll for the current calendar year stood at 284, a marked decrease from the 306 recorded at the same point in the previous year.