T&T: Stepfather of missing toddler charged with his murder

SCARBOROUGH, Tobago, CMC -Police have charged the 24-year-old stepfather of a missing two-year-old child with his murder, nearly two weeks after he disappeared on May 11.

Police said that Angelo Tobias Plaza’s stepfather, Shannon Miller, has been charged with his murder, even as the search continues for the toddler.

Miller, along with the child’s mother, Kalifah Tobias, were among seven people held in connection with the investigation. They have since been released without any charges.

Earlier, the Chief Secretary of  the Tobago House of Assembly (THA), Farley Augustine had been critical of the police’s handling of the child saying he had expected a much better response from investigators.

“This case was not properly managed from the get-go. I am not satisfied with how the (police) managed this case. I feel as though justice is not being served, I feel as though justice is still delayed,” Augustine told the Trinidad Express newspaper.

He said that the first 48 hours after the child was reported missing were critical to the investigation and “this entire case was just not handled well in my opinion.

“I will not go into greater details because I don’t want it to be seen as though a public official is eroding confidence in the TTPS (Trinidad and Tobago Police Service) but certainly I expect better, I certainly expect better,” he said.

Augustine said it was difficult for him to comprehend the circumstances surrounding the disappearance of the child and the time it took for the parents to be questioned by police.

“How do you lose a two-year-old in such an awfully spectacular manner is beyond me and it is beyond me what a two-year-old could do an adult…I don’t understand why we did not much earlier call the parents to account for the child. That’s beyond me,” he said, adding that he understands the frustration and anger being expressed by the public over the investigation.

“This is a two-year-old, a two-year-old is not like a $100 from your wallet that goes missing, it’s not your car keys. This is a whole human being that cannot give account for and Tobago and Tobagonians have every right to be dissatisfied, to be incensed, in how this entire case was managed,” he said.

But Assistant Commissioner of Police, Rishi Singh, said while he remains open to engagement with Augustine in relation to his concerns about the investigation “I know that when children are victims of crimes it rocks the core of right-thinking individuals, institutions and communities.

“Despite the emotions involved the police must maintain a very professional outlook. We function in an environment where we must honour the constitutional rights and privileges of all we are in contact with,” Singh said, noting that there was the presumption of innocence, right to private and family life, and there had to be evidence to act.

Last week, media reports said that one person believed to be the child’s stepfather had said that the child had been killed and his body dumped. But the TTPS said it is urging “members of the public to allow the investigative process to proceed without interference and encourages anyone with information that may assist in locating Angelo  to come forward.