Woman chopped by husband wants him buried for children's sake

DESPITE being brutally chopped 11 times by her common-law husband, who vowed to kill her and himself, Chinell Jeffrey wants to give him a proper burial for the sake of their four children.

The man, Christopher Singuineau, was shot and killed by Central Division Police on Good Friday when they caught him in the act of chopping Jeffrey.

Their children were not at home during the attack.

Police received a report at the Chaguanas Operations Centre at around 3.15 pm that a man was chopping a woman inside their Enterprise Street, Chaguanas home. When they arrived at the house they saw Singuineau chopping his wife. He refused to stop and they shot him.

Jeffrey told Newsday in an interview today, "If the police did not come at that moment when Christopher was chopping me, I would have been a dead woman. I thank the police for rescuing me."

She said her husband told her he was going to chop her to death and then kill himself that day. With every blow, he shouted, "Today both of us going to die."

" I cried and begged him to stop, but he did not." Jeffrey, 30, screamed for help and prayed someone would rescue her. She said God heard her prayers and sent the police just in time to save her.

"I really thought I was going to die. I thought about my beautiful children, leaving them behind to grow up without parents. I was crying. I was in so much pain. There was blood all over.

"And as I was almost about to give up hope I heard someone breaking down the door. It was the police."

But she said her husband continued to chop her even though the police called on him to stop.

When they shot him, she said, she said the bloody cutlass fell from his hands.

"The police saved my life. If they did not shoot him, he would have killed me."

She was chopped on the face, head, chest, and legs. She was discharged from the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex on April 23, after several operations.

Jeffrey, a security guard, has a limp and said her body is still healing, as she still feels pain.

But, she says, "I am just thankful for life."

She said while many may not understand her decision to bury a man who almost killed her, she believes her children must have closure.

"I just want to have a proper burial for him, and I want my children to say goodbye to their father so we can continue with our lives.

"Things would be very hard for us financially, but God is good."

Jeffrey said she has been to the Forensic Science Centre twice but has not been successful in getting Singuineau's body released.