Outrage: Trinidad and Tobago react to Ashanti’s death

RHIANNA MCKENZIE AND JENSEN LA VENDE

The population erupted with anger and frustration as the gruesome details of the discovery of missing teen Ashanti Riley became public, ending five nights of worry, prayers and grief.

Her decomposing body was found in Santa Cruz early Friday morning.

“Protect our women,” “Women’s lives matter,” and “A dress is not a yes,” were a few of the comments made by the public over the past few days as the search for the 18-year-old gained traction on social media.

The discovery of her body garnered nationwide attention on Friday and people circulated her photo with the hashtag “Justice for Ashanti Riley.”

Minister of Education and MP for St Ann’s East Nyan Gadsby-Dolly offered condolences to the family on her Facebook page on Friday morning.

“Today we mourn,” she said. “This is not our finest hour.”

Riley lived in Gadsby-Dolly’s constituency.

She mentioned that: “Ashanti took a Sunshine taxi as I did for so many years of my life. You lived just three streets away. Your story could be so many of ours.”

Ashanti’s mother Candice Riley spoke to reporters at her Lloyd Street apartment in San Juan on Friday afternoon after investigators told the family of the discovery. Candice was accompanied by her sister Lisa, Lisa’s husband Derek Timothy, and a small group of friends and family.

“Right now, I feel numb. I don’t know what to do,” said Candice as she maintained her composure for the media.

“I can’t tell you how I feel to tell you the honest truth; I can’t,” she said.

Asked if she had anything to say to Ashanti’s murderers, she said, “I can’t focus on that right now. I just need to focus on my daughter.”

Candice said the family received a tip-off on Friday morning that her body had been found in Santa Cruz and immediately called the police with the information. She said the police then told her they were on their way to investigate.

Police said an hour after the body was found, a San Juan man was arrested and is helping them with their investigations. He was held at his home at Laventille Road, San Juan. He is the second man held over Riley's disappearance. A 32-year-old man was held on Monday, the day after she went missing.

A third man is still being sought.

Police said from CCTV and video footage from nearby residents they tracked what may have been Riley’s final moments.

After she was picked up by a driver in his blue Nissan Almera from her Lloyd Street, Sunshine Avenue home, bound for San Juan, the driver picked up two other men. Then the driver is seen heading in the opposite direction from where Riley should have been dropped off – San Juan Junction – and near where her body was found.

Around 8.05 am on Friday, members of the Anti-Kidnapping Unit went to a forested area in upper La Canoa, where they found Riley's body. Police said they received information on Thursday and visited Cakes Land, Upper La Canoa, but the light was poor, so they returned on Friday around 6 am.

Two hours later Riley's naked, decomposing body of Riley was found in a shallow street approximately 60 feet from the road.

One concerned villager, who wished to remain anonymous, said, “This is why I tell my girl children only travel in taxis with people they know. People come in here and do their thing and give the area a bad name.”

She said villagers noticed several police vehicles driving down the unpaved road beside the river where the body was found around 8 am on Friday.

Ashanti’s uncle Timothy was at the scene on Friday morning after a friend told him police had found her body. He said he left work immediately and drove to La Canoa to see if it was true.

“The family is not coping too well,” said a tearful Timothy. “This was a typical young lady. She likes social media and hanging out with friends. We had no challenges with her whatsoever. None.

"This is a hard blow for the family.”

Both Candice and Timothy thanked the police and the “community of TT” for its support over the past few days. "The police are doing their investigations. Sometimes you don’t get anything at all, so we're grateful," said Timothy.

Candice said the police had kept her informed of any leads they had during their investigation and appreciated their time and patience.

“I just want to thank them. I want to thank everybody who posted (Ashanti) up, circulated her picture and tried to find her.”

Riley, of Lloyd Street, San Juan, was last seen on November 29, when she took a taxi to San Juan to meet her boyfriend and cousins to go to her grandmother's birthday celebrations in Cocorite.

For the year to date, 45 women have reportedly been killed.