By Trendsetter Tribune 
The families of two Trinidadian men killed in a U.S. missile strike last October have filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the United States.
Chad Joseph, 26, and Rishi Samaroo, 41, were allegedly killed in a strike on October 14, 2025, while traveling from Venezuela to Trinidad. The lawsuit claims the men were not involved with drug cartels or any criminal organizations, and that the U.S. government has not provided evidence linking them to illegal activity.
Attorneys for the families are citing the Death on the High Seas Act (DOHSA), a law enacted in 1920, which allows civil action for deaths caused by wrongful acts on the high seas.
The complaint states that the missile strikes were ordered without congressional approval and calls the actions “premeditated and intentional killings” with no legal justification.
Chad Joseph lived in Las Cuevas, Trinidad, with his wife and three children. Rishi Samaroo, also from Las Cuevas, was a construction worker and fisherman supporting his family after serving time in prison from 2009 to 2024.
Joseph’s mother, Lenore Burnley, said, “Chad was a loving and caring son… We know this lawsuit won’t bring Chad back, but we’re trusting God to carry us through.”
Samaroo’s sister, Sallycar Korasingh, added, “Rishi used to call our family almost every day, and then one day he disappeared… If the U.S. government believed Rishi had done anything wrong, it should have arrested, charged, and detained him, not murdered him.”
The lawsuit seeks accountability for what the families describe as extrajudicial killings and wrongful deaths under DOHSA.