Two Vincentians killed in Trinidad

Police in Trinidad and Tobago are investigating the murders of two Vincentian men, who succumbed to fatal injuries in separate incidents last week.{{more}}

Thirty-eight-year-old Kirtland “Rude Boy” Forde, a mason from St. Vincent and the Grenadines, was stabbed to death during a scuffle with a group of friends at Maraval, Trinidad and Tobago, last Friday night.

Forde sustained stab wounds to the chest and arms, and was pronounced dead on arrival by doctors at the Port of Spain General Hospital, police said.

The incident occurred around 12:30 a.m., in bushes in the vicinity of Faustin Trace, Maraval.

Police said Forde and a group of friends were liming on a bench, drinking alcohol, when an argument broke out, which was followed by a fight. During the fracas, Forde was dealt several stabs with a knife.

A suspect fled the scene and Forde was taken to hospital by neighbours.

Officers said an arrest in connection with the incident is imminent.

They are also probing the killing of Yrvin Feliciano Stephens, 33, of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, whose Trinidad and Tobago address was yet to be ascertained, and Sean Michael Sabazon, 38, of Unity Lane, Carapo, Arima, on Wednesday, June 13, on 18th Street, Beetham Gardens.

The Trinidad and Tobago Police said the shooting stemmed from a drug deal which went sour.

The men died on the spot.

Stephens’ and Sabazon’s deaths pushed the murder toll to 212.

Police said they responded to a report of gunshots in Beetham around 9:35 p.m. and on their arrival found the two men lying on the roadway.

Sabazon’s blue Peugeot motorcar, which was parked nearby, was on fire. Investigators said the victims’ feet were bound and they were face down on the ground.

The bodies were viewed by the district medical officer and ordered removed to the Forensic Science Centre for an autopsy.

Police said they found 17 rounds of spent 5.56 shells at the scene. They said the ammunition was from a powerful weapon similar to an AK-47 or Galil. Detectives said Sabazon and Stephens were not from the area and possibly had gone to buy drugs.

The vehicle was impounded and taken to the Besson Street Police Station. Investigators said they had several leads and an arrest was imminent. Their deaths followed a series of shootings in East Port-of-Spain and Laventille.