标签： Trinidad and Tobago

Trinidad and Tobago’s ongoing state of emergency (SoE), implemented to curb rising violent crime, has been marred by persistent gang-related violence, with 30 people murdered across the nation since the measure took effect last month. This official death toll was confirmed by Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Suzette Martin, who spoke publicly following two fatal shootings that rocked the communities of San Juan and Valencia on Friday.

While investigations into the motives of the two most recent killings remain in early stages, Martin noted that a large portion of the homicides recorded during the SoE can be tied to local gang activity, with others linked to other forms of organized criminal enterprise. She emphasized that law enforcement remains deeply troubled by the persistence of murder even under emergency public safety measures, telling local outlet *Trinidad Express*, “It just goes to show how lawless our land can be at times.”

The 2026 state of emergency was formally approved on March 2 and came into force the following day, enacted in response to alarming crime rates recorded in the first two months of the year. As of Saturday evening, the total national homicide count for 2026 already stands at 92.

Police officials have acknowledged that emergency measures have yielded mixed results across different crime categories. During a media briefing held last month at the Port of Spain Police Administration Building, Police Service media ambassador Owie Russell shared early crime data comparing the first three weeks of the current SoE (March 3 to March 23) to the same period of the previous emergency declaration. The data showed significant declines in several major offences: reported sexual offences dropped from 54 to 13, reported kidnappings for ransom fell to just one case, residential break-ins decreased from 74 to 50, and overall robberies plummeted from 125 to 51.

However, Russell also confirmed a troubling uptick in home invasion incidents, noting that active investigations are ongoing into all unsolved cases.

The push for a new state of emergency came after crime statistics released in the Senate laid bare the severity of the nation’s public safety crisis before the measure was enacted. In the first two months of 2026, before the SoE was declared, more than 1,200 serious criminal offences were reported across the country, while law enforcement clearance (detection) rates remained stuck at stubbornly low levels. Homeland Security Minister Roger Alexander told the Senate this week that provisional police data recorded 725 serious offences in January, with an additional 479 reported in February.

The most recent violence unfolded in two separate incidents early Friday. In Valencia, 42-year-old Sherman Lambkin, widely known by the nickname “Gummy,” was gunned down inside a private residence after an armed gunman forced entry to the property. Police accounts confirm Lambkin was visiting a female acquaintance at her home around 2:45 a.m. when the attacker breached the front door and opened fire. The witness told investigators she saw Lambkin fall immediately after the first volley of shots, before the gunman approached the downed man and fired multiple additional fatal shots before fleeing the scene.

Multiple specialized law enforcement units, including the Eastern Division Task Force, Homicide Region II, local criminal investigation teams from Valencia and Sangre Grande, and the national Crime Scene Unit, responded to the call just after 3 a.m. Responding officers found Lambkin lying supine on the kitchen floor of the small concrete home, where he was pronounced dead at 5 a.m.

Hours earlier, in San Juan, 35-year-old Anand Joseph—also known as “Mamoo,” a resident of Laventille Road—was found shot to death inside a parked vehicle just a short distance from his home. Police preliminary investigations estimate Joseph was killed shortly after midnight on Friday. Both killings remain under active investigation.

On Good Friday, at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Port of Spain, Roman Catholic Archbishop Fr Jason Gordon delivered a stirring homily during the annual ‘Good Friday: The Passion of the Lord’ service, challenging congregants to examine their relationship with Jesus Christ and live out their faith through bold, ethical action.

The service carried all the traditional hallmarks of Good Friday observance: many worshippers arrived wearing red, a color chosen to symbolize the blood Christ shed during his crucifixion, while all crosses in the cathedral were draped in red cloth. As one cross was slowly unveiled to the gentle, melodic strains of local steelpan music, attendees knelt forward one by one to kiss the wooden symbol in a moment of quiet devotion. The gathering also included intercessory prayers for the nation, its civic and political leaders, and the senior leadership of the regional church.

Gordon opened his reflection by centering the well-known biblical story of Peter’s three denials of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, arguing that the story is not just an ancient historical account but a mirror for modern believers. Confessing his personal affection for the disciple Peter, Gordon told the congregation: ‘We are Peter. We allow Christ to be crucified again today.’ He pressed attendees to set aside personal pride and ask whether they are willing to stand for their faith even when doing so is socially inconvenient, asking: ‘Every time we are called to the cross, do we say “I am here?”‘

Gordon expanded this argument to address pressing modern social ills, pointing specifically to the ongoing crisis of domestic violence. He stressed that when communities stay silent about abuse that harms children, breaks apart families, and scars generations, they perpetuate the same rejection of Christ that Peter demonstrated two millennia ago. This silence extends beyond the home, he added: when employees witness unethical actions unfolding in workplaces and choose to stay silent out of self-interest, or when leaders with global power make harmful, self-serving decisions that harm vulnerable populations, they too reject Christ and perpetuate his crucifixion in the modern day.

Drawing a parallel to the shared global experience of the COVID-19 pandemic, Gordon reminded attendees that the public health crisis stripped all people bare, stripping away many of the distractions and social constructs that people rely on to avoid self-examination. During the worst of the pandemic, large public gatherings like this Good Friday service were banned, with even small groups of five people restricted from gathering, a situation Gordon said echoed the fear and isolation Christ faced in the hours before his crucifixion. Just as the world was laid bare during that crisis, Gordon urged congregants to ‘strip themselves bare’ of their own pretensions, much like the stripped Good Friday altar, to draw closer to God. This call included an invitation to deep personal introspection, rooted in the core Christian belief that Christ bore the sins of all humanity during his crucifixion.

Beyond calling out silence and inaction, Gordon issued a clear call to action: he urged believers to speak up openly about domestic violence when they see it, and to embrace the call to be ‘their brothers’ keepers’ in both domestic spaces and workplaces. He closed his homily by reminding the congregation to remain rooted in focus on Christ, through fervent prayer and authentic worship, both in times of crisis and in periods of peace and stability.

A devastating residential fire in the Laventille community has claimed the life of an 86-year-old wheelchair-dependent woman and left four of her relatives without a home, just one day after another destructive blaze left 12 people homeless in Tobago.

The victim, identified as Elise Sarah Morris, was trapped inside the single-family home on Robinson Lane when the fire broke out on Thursday afternoon. At the time of the incident, Morris was alone in the property: her niece Alicia Morris, 42, who lived at the home with Elise and her three children aged 3, 10, and 15, had left to run an errand between 5 p.m. and 6 p.m., and the children were playing at a nearby neighbor’s residence.

Alicia told local media outlet *Express* that she had arranged for someone to check on her aunt, who had recently developed memory issues and relied on a wheelchair for 15 years. Within 45 minutes of her leaving the property, she received an urgent call alerting her that her home was ablaze. By the time she rushed back, the entire structure was already engulfed in uncontrollable flames.

One brave neighbor made two separate attempts to enter the burning building to rescue Elise, but was forced to retreat both times due to the extreme intensity of the fire. First responders eventually recovered the elderly woman’s body from beneath the structure, which featured a mixed concrete and timber floor plan.

Alicia has ruled out electrical failure as a potential cause of the fire, noting that the property had been disconnected from the power grid for four months. While she could not confirm the exact origin of the blaze, she said the fire is believed to have started in Elise’s bedroom. Alicia told reporters that a passing motorist had stopped to light a candle for Elise shortly before the fire, and she suspects the candle may have accidentally fallen and ignited surrounding materials. An official investigative report from the local Fire Service is expected to be released next week, which will confirm the cause of the blaze.

For the Morris family, the loss extends far beyond the destruction of property: the Robinson Lane home was a multi-generational family property where dozens of relatives grew up, holding decades of shared memories. Elise, who had no biological children of her own, raised Alicia from a young age, and Alicia described her as a maternal figure.

Local councillor Adana Griffith-Gordon, who represents the Laventille area, visited the scene on Thursday and extended her formal condolences to the Morris family. She confirmed that initial emergency assistance has already been deployed to support the displaced family. The family was able to stay with a neighbor on Thursday night, and the Disaster Management Unit of the San Juan/Laventille Regional Corporation completed a full damage assessment on Friday morning.

So far, the regional corporation has provided three mattresses for the displaced family, while local Member of Parliament Kareem Marcelle has contributed a food hamper and a temporary food assistance card. Griffith-Gordon’s office is currently working to secure long-term alternative accommodation for Alicia and her three children, noting that staying with friends and neighbors long-term is an unsustainable arrangement for a family of four. Marcelle has also reached out to Vandana Mohit, Minister of the People, Social Development and Family Services, as well as senior officials at the Ministry of Housing to request additional support. Griffith-Gordon confirmed that the Fire Service responded promptly to the emergency, though she could not provide an exact arrival time.

Thursday’s fatal fire marks the second total loss of a family home to fire within a 48-hour period across Trinidad and Tobago. On Wednesday, an overnight blaze destroyed a home on Windward Road in Bad Rock, Belle Garden, Tobago, leaving 12 people – ten adults and two children – displaced.

A 47-year-old labourer has made his first court appearance following his arrest last week on a charge of murdering a 28-year-old club cricketer in Trinidad. Rakesh Jaggernauth, who also goes by the alternative names Rakesh Lalman and “Bowlin” and resides in Hermitage Village close to San Fernando, was taken into custody by law enforcement in Couva this past Saturday.

On yesterday’s hearing before San Fernando Master Shabaana Shah, the formal murder charge was formally read out in open court. Court documents allege that between March 16 and 17, Jaggernauth killed Rashme Deoajit at a property on Boodram Trace in Granville, Cedros. The charge was officially filed by police constable La Rode on Wednesday, and Jaggernauth was not required to enter a plea at this early procedural hearing.

Jaggernauth was represented in court by defense attorney Krysan Rambert, while the case was prosecuted by acting police sergeant Reagan Ramanan. After Shah walked the defendant through his legal rights, bail was denied, and Jaggernauth was ordered to be held in official custody. His next scheduled court appearance is set for April 20.

Deoajit, the victim, was both an active club-level cricketer and a sales merchandiser. Her body was discovered by concerned relatives, who gained entry to her Granville home through a window after being unable to contact her. They found Deoajit unresponsive and covered in blood in her bedroom; an initial examination confirmed she had suffered multiple stab wounds and a cut to her throat.

A deadly double tragedy unfolded on one of Trinidad and Tobago’s busiest highways on Sunday, as two separate vehicle collisions just three hours apart left two people dead and multiple others injured, reigniting longstanding public pressure for improved road safety measures along the route.

The first incident occurred at approximately 5:30 p.m. near the Munroe Road flyover, when a 22-year-old driver operating a pick-up truck crossed the highway’s central median and struck a passenger vehicle head-on. Trapped inside the wrecked car was 58-year-old Michael King, a local business leader and co-executive of an Arouca-based maintenance firm. King was crushed in the impact and pronounced dead at the scene, after first responders had to cut him free from the destroyed vehicle.

King’s wife, Severina Francois, who was also in the vehicle, suffered serious brain injuries in the crash. She was transported to Mt Hope Hospital for urgent treatment, and medical updates confirm she remains conscious and coherent. The 22-year-old pick-up driver and all other occupants of the truck were also critically injured and taken to hospital for care. The high-profile crash blocked through traffic for hours, causing widespread gridlock that stretched for miles along the highway.

Before emergency crews had even cleared the wreckage from the first collision, a second fatal crash unfolded on the highway’s northbound lane near Caroni, at roughly 8:15 p.m. that same evening. According to police reports, a black Suzuki Grand Vitara, driven northbound by 41-year-old Curepe resident Randy Siew, collided with the rear of a silver Nissan Sylphy traveling in the same direction. The force of the impact pushed the Nissan off the paved roadway, but its driver escaped the crash without any injuries.

When law enforcement officers arrived at the scene, they found Siew motionless on the side of the road. Investigators preliminary assessment suggests Siew suffered a sudden, fatal heart attack behind the wheel just before or during the collision. Two elderly passengers who were riding in Siew’s vehicle sustained non-fatal injuries and were transferred to a local medical facility for treatment. Siew was officially pronounced dead at the scene by the district medical officer.

In the wake of the back-to-back fatalities, local road safety advocacy group Arrive Alive has publicly extended its condolences to the families of both King and Siew, while renewing a years-long campaign for the installation of physical median barriers along the entire length of the Uriah Butler Highway.

In a statement posted to the organization’s social media channels on Sunday, Arrive Alive emphasized that the fatal crash that killed King was entirely preventable. “This is another preventable and fatal crash which took the life of one, and seriously injured three persons. We wish the three persons injured full recoveries,” the group wrote.

The organization called on all motorists to prioritize focused driving, noting that driver distraction and excessive speed are consistent contributing factors in serious highway collisions across the country. It also added that the widespread lack of physical median separation directly contributes to the dangerous crossover collisions that frequently leave drivers dead on major routes.

“Forensic crash investigation required in T&T. So do [better] median barriers [to prevent] crossover collisions. The Ministry of Works and Infrastructure Trinidad and Tobago, please install median barriers along this highway,” the group’s statement concluded.