No new leads in shooting death of Paul’s Avenue resident

There were no new leads in the investigation into the shooting death of 27-year-old Naphtali Diaz who was gunned down in Paul’s Avenue last Sunday.{{more}}

Up to press time on Wednesday, police indicated that there were no new developments to report.

Diaz died after he sustained gunshots to the head and chest.

He was shot in the vicinity of the Metrocint Building in Paul’s Avenue sometime around 10 p.m.

The young man had had a number of run-ins with the law, serving time in jail in 2007 for a gun related incident and, in December 2011, he was arrested for allegedly trespassing on the property of a hotel.

He was also one of a group of young men wanted in connection to a series of robberies committed in Kingstown back in December 2011, a charge that he denied.

Diaz’s death came hours after 33-year-old Devon Jahjus Steele was shot in the Rose Place area.

He too sustained gunshots to the head and chest.

A week earlier, on April 28, Andrew Ashton died after being shot in the left side of his head in the Rose Place area. 30-year-old Helen Fox was killed by her former lover one day later, on April 29.

Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves responded to the killings, particularly the gun related crimes, saying that he was saddened by the tragic news.

He said that these crimes were all senseless, adding that in most instances, those involved are among the nation’s youth.

“These are things incidentally that don’t have anything to do with government or government policy or to do with joblessness,” the Prime Minister said.

He continued saying that he had since seen the reports and been briefed on the status of the investigations.

According to the prime minister, although St Vincent’s murder rate compared favourably with that of some of the other neighbouring Caribbean islands, he did not like that type of comparison.

“It’s just sadness,” he said.

Gonsalves explained that he is briefed by the Commissioner of Police on what transpired in relation to crime, whenever he (Gonsalves) returns from a trip abroad and that he was immediately saddened by the tragic news.(DD)