A two-year-old boy and his grandmother were killed last night in St Lucia while they slept. The family was from Vieux-Fort according to reports

Tara Joseph, 47, was shot four times, and her grandson, Kentrell Joseph, 2, received eight gunshots.

Tara was pronounced dead at the hospital, while her grandson was pronounced dead at the scene of the crime.

Family members say it appears that the gunmen used a chair to reach a window that was partially opened in the house

A member of the deceased family said “I heard someone kick the gate open and heard gunshots bursting. I did not want to open my door because gunshots were bursting,”

The man said her son was in a house nearby shouted at him, saying that they were killing his mother.

“I came in the yard and saw the child flat on the ground. Those guys have no heart,” the man said.

Before the gunmen killed the woman and child, they went into the home of another family member but no one was there.

“If I was at my home, I would be dead also. It’s a good thing I was not at home,” the grieving family member said.

Vieux Fort has been experiencing heavy shelling over the past few days.

On that same day, a young man from Vieux-Fort was gunned down in the usually quiet community of Cedars Heights.