TOO MANY questions have been left unanswered, and for far too long, in relation to the death of 14-year-old Naomi Nelson.
On the night of May 3, 2019, the child was shot dead during an incident involving an unmarked police car driven by police officers and alleged gunmen at Big Yard, Carenage.
Two men – Kareem Roberts, 27, and Keron Eve, 30 – were also killed in that incident. Police said residents had started shooting. Residents said police drew first blood.
Last week’s police-involved killing at Beetham Gardens, in which a man was killed by officers after police entered that community in an unmarked vehicle, revived uncomfortable memories of the Big Yard case.
But to date no member of Naomi Nelson’s family knows for sure who exactly is to blame for her death and how exactly she came to die. Not only has their grief been compounded by delays, but public statements by high-ranking authorities on this matter have given them little cause for belief they will ever get justice.
In June 2019, then police commissioner Gary Griffith said a ballistics report on the matter could take up to six years.
But mere weeks earlier, Mr Griffith seemed to have a very clear idea of the circumstances of the case. At a police media briefing on May 8, 2019, Mr Griffith said some felt the police were culpable and urged the public not to “let perception become reality.” With the aid of a diagram, he said his officers were fired at, one officer who was wearing a bullet-proof vest was hit in the chest, and the girl killed was behind the police vehicle gunmen targeted.
“These individuals saw an unmarked vehicle and they decided to fire,” Mr Griffith said. He also said two guns had been recovered, including the one used to fire at the officer.
Days later, police charged two men with firing at police in relation to the same incident.
When the men first appeared in a Port of Spain court on May 16, 2019, before magistrate Sarah Da Silva, she noted that the court exhibits that would normally be presented by police at a first hearing were not then presented.
The magistrate was told this oversight was because three parallel investigations were ongoing.
One entity that has probed this matter, the Police Complaints Authority, was still probing a full year later.
The family of the deceased deserve better. Members of the Carenage community deserve better. The police officers involved deserve better. And the people of this country, who rely on the police, deserve better.
If all the body cameras and dashboard cameras the State is forever procuring are actually used, and used consistently by all officers, these incidents could be more swiftly and possibly reliably resolved and justice served.
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