‘Chuck’ charged with murder of pregnant woman

NEIL Modeste, 36, also called Chuck, appeared in the Mayaro Magistrates Court yesterday charged with the murder of his pregnant 29-year-old neighbour Stacy Ann Campbell. The magistrate ordered that Modeste of Radix Village in Mayaro, return to court on April 9.

On Friday, Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions Joan Honore-Paul gave instructions for police from Homicide Bureau Region II to lay the charge. The following day, PC Adrian Hercules formally charged Modeste with murder. Sgt Anil Maharaj and Cpl Suresh Ramsahai led investigations.

On March 19, Campbell was at the home of a neighbour when Modeste allegedly attacked her with a clay brick. Campbell, the mother of four, was eight months pregnant. It is alleged that Modeste, a patient of the St Ann’s Psychiatric Hospital, struck her on the head. She died at the scene.

On Friday she was buried at the Radix Public Cemetery after a funeral officiated by pastor Carl Bobb at the Seventh-Day Adventist Church at Peter Hill, Mayaro. The body of the mother and unnamed baby girl shared the same coffin.