Dead man’s family: He was known to police but he was good to us

Anna-Lisa Paul

Senior Reporter

anna-lisa.paul@guardian.co.tt

Even though Kevon “Shrek” Lucas was well known to police, as he had been arrested for various offences over the years, a female relative said yesterday, “Despite how he was outside, he was good to his family.”

The bullet-riddled corpse of the 35-year-old father of four from Sangre Grande was found in the front passenger seat of a grey Hyundai Elantra around 3.30 am on Sunday.

His female companion, Sherayne Salandy, 37, of Phase Four, La Horquetta, was seated behind the wheel of the car, which was found idling along a stretch of roadway commonly called Boodoo Highway in Sangre Grande.

Both victims had multiple gunshot wounds. They were reportedly ambushed and killed by gunmen who pulled alongside them as they drove home from a lime.

A close female relative of Lucas spoke to reporters at the Forensic Science Centre (FSC), St James yesterday.

Unwilling to be named, she shied away from making the usual claim that he had been a good boy.

Instead, she stressed, “He was good to us home. He was good to the children.”

Of his young nieces and nephews, she said, “They do not understand the magnitude of what has happened, but they will miss him; we will all miss him.”

She said the family was under no illusion as to his character and actions outside their home, and she admitted he would have his ways outside with his friends.

The woman claimed Lucas’ mother had spoken to him relentlessly about his lifestyle.

“She would talk to him,” she insisted, adding, “Parents do talk to their children, but it is up to the child to listen.”

She went on, “We don’t know what he had ever done to anybody, but we hearing what people saying on the streets, and yeah, we know he had been arrested many times, but to us, he was still our relative.”

Lucas was a son, father and brother to many.

His children were said to be 11, seven, two and eight months old.

Pressed to say if Lucas had expressed fears about being targeted or if he had received threats from anyone, the woman answered, “Not really.”

She said Lucas’s friends confirmed the murdered couple had been liming in Sangre Grande prior to being gunned down.

“He was never fearful of anything,” she said.

Pleading with young men to listen to their elders, she said, “Parents, please keep your children under your wings.”

She believed that unresolved childhood traumas, including an absentee father, may have played a large part in influencing Lucas’s behaviour as he grew older.

Asked if Lucas’ family had spoken to Salandy’s relatives who had also been present at the FSC yesterday, she said the family had never met her before and had only come to know of their relationship following the murders.

A female relative of Salandy confirmed speaking with her around 8.53 pm on August 17, during which she claimed to be going to lime with a friend in Sangre Grande.

Saying Salandy also claimed to have some other business to attend to as she was going to be in the area, the woman said she never received a promised call from Salandy to keep her company on the phone as she drove to Sangre Grande.

Despite this, she didn’t think anything was amiss.

She said she attended church on Sunday morning as she was accustomed and only learnt of the murder while on the way to Salandy’s house afterwards as she was supposed to collect a package from her.

The woman said the family had not been contacted by the authorities until well after 10 am, even though the killings would have occurred around 3.30 am.

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