A 35-YEAR-OLD Arima woman was killed on Tuesday night when a stray bullet penetrated her bedroom window, struck her in the neck and exited through her forehead even as she and relatives began to run and take cover as rapid gunfire broke out when a gunman chased down his intended target through a neighbour’s yard.
Kernella Saunders was one of two women killed when the gunman took aim at a 39-year-old man near Pope Avenue, Daniel Trace, Malabar, at around 8 pm. The intended target managed to escape.
Police said the gunman, dressed in black, walked near the man and a woman identified only as Lashay and opened fire. Lashay, who police said was originally from Fyzabad, was shot in her stomach and died.
[caption id="attachment_1011837" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Bullet holes in the wall of a house located near the home of murder victim Kernella Saunders in Trainline, Malabar, Arima. Photo by Angelo Marcelle[/caption]
While the man was running and dodging the bullets, the gunmen kept on shooting with a bullet, penetrating the window of a nearby house and hitting Saunders.
Other residents, Newsday was told, also ducked for cover as the shooter continued shooting and chasing his quarry – giving up only after he apparently ran out of ammunition.
After the shooting stopped, the would-be target returned and took a badly bleeding Lashay to the Arima Hospital where she was declared dead at around 8.22 pm. Investigators said the man was reluctant to give further information to investigators.
The two women were among five people murdered in the space of 12 hours between Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, carrying the murder toll to 176, up to press time. The other three victims included the owner of an Aranguez pharmacy, the owner of a car wash in Claxton Bay and a Couva man.
For this week, three women have been murdered – Candace Griffith who was shot dead in Temple Street, Arima on Monday night and then Saunders and Lashay on Tuesday night.
A HARROWING ACCOUNT
At Saunders' home on Wednesday, her eldest sister Michelle Saunders-Callender gave a harrowing account of the events leading up to her sibling's demise. She recalled seeing her sister lying on the floor in their home and thinking she was there waiting for the gunshots to cease.
Instead, she later realised her sister was dead when she saw blood pooling around her body.
Saunders-Callender said when the shooting started, everyone in the house ducked for cover, something they were accustomed to since this was not the first time shots had rang out in that community.
“My sister just came from Larry Gomes stadium and she was just coming out of her bedroom. She was going to the kitchen to get a special meal she had prepared for herself and that's when she get hit by the bullet in her neck.
"I found her. I was outside washing when the shooting happened. The man just spray up bullets all over the place and I came in and met my sister on the ground,” Saunders-Callender cried.
Asked what she wanted to tell Caricom leaders after the two-day crime
