President of the Trinidad and Tobago Carnival Bands Association, Mark Ayen, says he is deeply hurt by the killing of nine-year-old J’layna Armstrong, one of four people shot dead along Lady Young Road, Morvant, on Sunday night.

In a social media post on Monday, Ayen said the nation had failed the child, whom he described as bright, kind and full of life.

“I often come here to brag and boast about Trinidad and Tobago… but this morning, I can’t. Trinidad and Tobago, we have failed. We have failed little J’layna Armstrong,” he wrote.