"I sent him to MiLAT for discipline": Mother's anguish after son is shot dead in Laventille

"I sent him to MiLAT for discipline": Mother's anguish after son is gunned down in Laventille triple murder— "sadest news I could get" The mother of one of the three men murdered in Laventille on Saturday says her 22-year-old son was an ambitious young man who had chosen a path of discipline and opportunity—not crime. Speaking through hurt and pain at the scene of the triple murder near the Unipet Gas Station at the corner of the Eastern Main Road and Morvant Old Road, La Toya Danglad described the killing of her son, Khalil Malik Emmanuel Williams, as the worst news a mother could ever receive. Williams, of Chinapoo, Morvant, was among three men shot dead in broad daylight on Saturday, July 18, 2026. Rejecting any suggestion that her son was involved in gang activity, Danglad said he was focused on building a better future. "He wasn't a gangster. He was coming up in life. He wanted to uplift himself and do something positive," she said. Determined to keep him on the right path, Danglad explained that she enrolled her son at the Military-Led Academic Training (MiLAT) programme, where she hoped he would develop discipline, respect and life skills. She said Williams successfully completed the programme, graduating with five CSEC passes, before entering the workforce. According to his family, Williams had taken another major step toward achieving his goals just days before he was killed, signing up on Thursday to join the Trinidad and Tobago Regiment. Relatives described him as a young man full of ambition whose future had only just begun. The tragedy has been made even more devastating by another recent loss suffered by the family. Danglad said Williams' father, Rodney Williams, died just two months ago after spending years working hard to ensure his son would avoid a life of crime. She said it was heartbreaking that after all of his father's sacrifices, their son had now been murdered. Police are continuing investigations into the triple homicide, which occurred at the Unipet Gas Station at the corner of the Eastern Main Road and Morvant Old Road, Laventille.— Story by I.A.N News