Relatives question police killing of Barbadian man in Laventille

Source: T&T Guardian – Eight months after losing her son Keston Bailey to gang violence in Laventille, Kyle King’s mother will again have to find the strength and courage to bury yet another offspring, this time one who was killed at the hands of the police.

King, 34, of Boxill Trace, Laventille, was killed during a police-involved shooting around 1.30 am on August 1.

The Barbados national, who also held a T&T passport, was killed metres away from the St Barb’s Police Post.

Pointing to the cameras mounted on several poles in the vicinity of the police post yesterday, relatives of King demanded justice from the T&T Police Service (TTPS) as they claimed he was innocent.

One man said, “If he did something wrong, we would have no problem with the police doing their job, but show us the footage that he shot at you all and you had to return fire, killing him.”

Relatives dismissed claims by police officers that King’s car had been involved in a shooting earlier in the night at Gonzales, Belmont.

Insisting the father of a four-month-old girl was “working hard to provide for her,” they said the taxi-driver/mechanic was not one to get mixed up with the criminal elements.

A second man said, “I never hear that man talk any kinda gun talk…and he not mad to go and play man and just start shooting at the police.”

King’s relative said he was growing angry over what he described as efforts by the police to tarnish King’s image and paint him as yet another “gang-banger.”

“It not right.”

“I don’t know if they mistake the man car with somebody else own…but I know it wasn’t he. He don’t be on that.”

Questioning why the police officers involved had also acted quickly in removing King’s body and car following the shooting, relatives were yet to receive any clear answers from the police up to last evening.

King’s relatives said they only learnt of the killing around 6 am when the news began to spread in the community.

The relative said King’s mother who is due to return to Trinidad today from vacation in Guyana, was devastated.

He said upon learning that King had died, “She kept asking us what she did to deserve this.”

Investigations are continuing into the incident.