Anika, Enrico Guerra laid to rest in Moruga
Hesper Ali-Darsoo, mother of Enrico Guerra and grandmother of Anika Guerra who were brutally murdered at their home in St Mary’s Village Moruga on August 21, 2024, consoles the wife of Enrico and mother of Anika , Anastacia Hamilton at their funeral on August 28. – Photo by Lincoln Holder
Overcome with grief, Hesper Ali-Darsoo kept hovering over the large casket that carried her murdered son, Enrico Andy Guerra, and his five-year-old daughter as she tried to accept the circumstances of their deaths and that their bodies were soon to be buried.
The funeral took place at the family’s home at the corner of Moruga Main Road and Poui Road in St Mary’s Village, Moruga, on August 28. The father and daughter were side by side and both dressed in white in the same casket.
Hundreds of mourners, as well as the police, attended.
Guerra, also known as Rico, owned Enrico’s Corner Mart at the front of the house.
“I did not make any children to bury. I live my life for my children, for my children to bury me, and I had to watch my son pulled up in a dead hearse. Why? Because some delinquent, evil-minded person or animal do something like this and want to sit down normal and talk to his partners because he is a gunta,” Ali-Darsoo told mourners.
“Bad people do not sleep. Bad people do not hide. We are no badman family. We are a praying family. To back it up, Anastacia’s side are prayer warriors as well. So combined, we form our own army of the Lord.”
Anastacia Hamilton is the mother of Anika Amelia Guerra.
Guerra, 34, and his daughter, Anika, were gunned down on August 21 at around 9.45 pm. Anika turned five on August 13 and was a past preschooler at Blooming Scholars Kindergarten in Princes Town.
Friends and family carry the casket with the bodies of Enrico Guerra and daughter Anika Guerra who were brutally murdered at their home in St Mary’s Village Moruga on August 21, 2024. The funeral took place at the home in Moruga on August 28. – Photo by Lincoln Holder
Hamilton was combing her daughter’s hair inside the mini mart when they heard gunshots.
Guerra ran inside, trying to escape the masked gunman who chased him and continued to shoot.
Guerra died on the spot.
The girl was taken to the Princes Town District Health Facility, where she later died.
Another villager, Justin Weston, 30, who was earlier talking to Guerra, was shot and wounded. He was treated and discharged from hospital.
Ali-Darsoo recalled being pregnant with Guerra, her first-born, as a teenager, saying he transformed her life. As a baby, she always woke him up to play with him.
She said he was an energetic child who was full of life. She recalled the pain of childbirth and the excitement of seeing what the Lord had blessed her with. She said she loved her children.
On learning about his child on the way, he stopped partying and took his role seriously as a father.
Whenever Anika had a project, the entire family was involved in it. She said the family was angry and hurt. “But Go, does not make mistakes. Sometimes, the Devil feels that the only way to break you is to use who and what you love. But he has to come really good in this family.”
She recalled getting a phone call about their demise a day before she was set to go abroad.
“We are no gangsters. We are no badman family. We are hard-working people.”
Without giving details, she said Guerra’s killing was intended to send a message.
Ali-Darsoo said, “If they came to kill my son, the message was not going to be sent the way God wanted it to. He took Anika too. I would have had a piece of him. Anastacia is a walking, dying woman right now. But she grew up in God. He will hold her and keep her grounded because she thinks she has no purpose and meaning when she gets up.”
Bikers lead the funeral procession of Enrico Guerra and daughter Anika Guerra in St Mary’s Village Moruga on August 28. – Photo by Lincoln Holder
Ali-Darsoo added that the family stands in solidarity with Anika’s bereaved mother.
“We cannot turn our back on each other. At the end of the day, today for me, tomorrow could be yours. When your neighbour house is on fire, wet yours. People are crying out. The Devil is busy. My son, my good-looking son, and granddaughter are lying in this box here today. That is only the beginning.”
She said she saw people from all over crying for her son.
Ali-Darsoo said, “God gave me strength, courage, power and love. God give me Rico too.”
During the funeral, she sat next to the casket and kept placing her hands on it. Guerra’s father, Andy Lawrence Guerra sat nearby and wept as relatives consoled him.
Ali-Darsoo sang passionately and hovered over the coffin as Nicholas Bristol and Afiya Small paid tributes in song.
Earlier, when the hearse arrived, the bereaved mother of three paced around in the street, waiting for the casket to be taken from the hearse. As Ella Andall’s hit, Bring down the power, played from a music truck, she sang, wept and danced along.
Several people gave tributes, including Guerra’s aunt Jennifer Ali, who quoted biblical scriptures and reminded people of the importance of love, saying love does not envy and it is kind.
Ali added, “I know it is difficult to love with so many heinous acts in this world today. If we truly love Jesus, we would not be attending this funeral today.”
Friend Quincy Jones described Guerra as always being authentically and unapologetically himself.
He said Guerra was truly loved, and people have become numb to losing loved ones to the point there are murders frequently.
“I am glad we are still here and we have feelings. Transfer that sorrow into a movement, to stand up. Do not sit down. Just as we came today to celebrate their lives, if we stand up together, we could make Trinidad safer.
An ex-councillor, Francis Paul, said people had become prisoners in their homes. He called for joint patrols in Moruga, adding that criminals are getting away.
“We want action like yesterday. We do not want a repeat of this.”
A member from Anika’s preschool read a poem from a former classmate. Part of it read, “Thank you for being my best friend, Anika. I will miss you a lot. Hope you have lots of fun in heaven with Uncle Rico and the other angels.”
Pastor Kirt James told mourners that salt and garlic cannot help to deal with Satan and just as Satan is real, God is also real.
James added, “We are living in perilous times, and the cause of suffering is Satan. There is power in the name of Jesus.”
The bodies were taken to the Rochard Douglas Road public cemetery for burial.
On August 24, from 6 pm, residents participated in a candlelight walk from Knox Supermarket on the Moruga Main Road to the Guerra family’s home, calling for peace and justice.
The double murder sparked fear in the community and rocked the country, with people from all quarters condemning it.
In a Facebook post, the Prime Minister expressed his shock and anger and described it as the worst kind of barbarism.