Another Guyanese was murdered in the twin-island Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, taking the toll now to three for the year. Raphael Collins, 23, formerly of Ann’s Grove, East Coast Demerara (ECD), was gunned down on Thursday evening at a house of a female friend at Laventille, Trinidad.
Based on information received, the young man was having his hair braided when a
Dead: Raphael Collins
gunman barged into the yard and shot him multiple times.
Reports reaching this newspaper revealed that after the shooting, the gunman left, but after realising that Collins was still alive, he returned and shot him to the head at close range. The female friend with him at the time of the shooting was left unharmed.
The killing is being treated as an execution. Friends of the dead man are left in a state of shock and have many unanswered questions. Trinidad law enforcement officers are hunting for the suspect.
However, in Guyana, his uncle, Frederick Collins, told Guyana Times that the young man called three days ago and informed them that he was coming to Guyana for the Easter weekend. He noted that his nephew was all excited about the visit. He has not return to Guyana since 2016 when he left for Trinidad. While in the foreign country, the young man worked with an aunt.
The now dead man’s uncle related that they received a telephone call about 22:00h from a relative in Trinidad informing them that Collins was shot.
“After we received the news, we start call around and it was then, other relatives confirmed that he was shot and killed… they told us that he was at a neighbour’s house when the man walked into the yard, pushed the gun through the window and shot him,” the man stated.
He also confirmed that the friend who was with his nephew at the time of the shooting was arrested and is being interrogated. The family, the elderly man stated, is making the necessary arrangements to have the body brought back to Guyana.
Before leaving the country, Collins was taking care of his grandmother after his mother passed away 18 years ago. He attended the Ann’s Grove Primary and Secondary Schools and was described as a peaceful person who never got into arguments, much less a fight. He leaves to mourn his only brother, Kevin Collins of Plaisance, ECD, his grandmother and other relatives.
