Families of two Trinidadian men killed in a U.S. missile strike in October 2025 have filed a lawsuit in a U.S. federal court, seeking accountability and compensation for their deaths.
The suit, filed in Massachusetts, relates to an October 14 strike on a small boat in the Caribbean that killed Chad Joseph, 26, and Rishi Samaroo, 41, along with four other individuals. The men were traveling by boat from Venezuela to Trinidad and Tobago when the incident occurred.
According to court filings, Mr. Joseph lived in Las Cuevas, Trinidad, with his wife and three children and frequently traveled to Venezuela for fishing and farm work to support his family. Two days before the strike, he contacted his wife to say he had secured transport home and expected to arrive shortly. After reports of a boat strike surfaced on social media, relatives attempted to reach him but received no response.
Mr. Samaroo had also been working in Venezuela in the weeks prior to his death, assisting on a farm caring for livestock and producing cheese. In a phone call with his sister on October 12, he said he was returning home to Trinidad to help care for his ill mother. That was the last time his family heard from him.
The plaintiffs in the case are Mr. Joseph’s mother, Lenore Burnley, and Mr. Samaroo’s sister, Sallycar Korasingh, who are bringing the claim on behalf of surviving family members. The lawsuit names the U.S. government as the defendant and seeks redress under the Death on the High Seas Act, which allows wrongful death claims for incidents occurring in international waters, and the Alien Tort Statute, which permits non-citizens to pursue claims in U.S. courts for alleged violations of international law.
Attorneys representing the families argue that the strike occurred outside an armed conflict and that the victims posed no immediate threat. They are being represented by lawyers from the American Civil Liberties Union, the Center for Constitutional Rights, and other legal advocates.
In statements released with the filing, family members described the men as hardworking and family-oriented, and said the lawsuit is intended to obtain clarity and accountability surrounding the incident.
“Rishi used to call our family almost every day, and then one day he disappeared, and we never heard from him again,” said Sallycar Korasingh, Rishi Samaroo’s sister. “Rishi was a hardworking man who paid his debt to society and was just trying to get back on his feet again and to make a decent living in Venezuela to help provide for his family. If the U.S. government believed Rishi had done anything wrong, it should have arrested, charged, and detained him.”
Following the strike, Trinidad and Tobago’s Foreign Minister Sean Sobers told local media that authorities had no information linking Mr. Joseph or Mr. Samaroo to illegal activity.
Because admiralty claims may be filed in any U.S. federal court, the case was brought in Massachusetts, a jurisdiction with a long history of handling maritime matters.
The lawsuit adds to ongoing legal scrutiny surrounding U.S. maritime security operations in the Caribbean and Pacific regions since late 2025.
