Ashanti's mother: The healing is hard

Two days after murder victim Ashanti Riley, 18, was laid to rest, her mother Candice Riley and her family prepare themselves for life without her.

In a brief interview with Newsday on Wednesday, Candice said the family is not coping well.

“It’s so hard right now, because now is the healing process. Now we have to live life without Ashanti. So it’s really hard.”

She said the family has received support from their community, with people reaching out to offer counselling. Candice said her employer has also arranged a counsellor for anyone in the family who needs one.

On Wednesday, the Prime Minister came under fire for offering his condolences to the Riley family on the Office of the Prime Minister's Facebook account in the same post in which he attacked critics of the government’s handling of Venezuelan migrants.

He later apologised, saying he had meant to post separately on the two matters on his personal account.

Candice said she hd not paid much attention to social media in the past few days and was unaware of the public upset caused by the post.

“If (Dr Rowley) sent any condolences, I accept,” she said.

Ashanti, of San Juan, was reported missing on November 29. She had left for Cocorite for her grandmother’s birthday celebration.

Her body was found in Upper La Canoa, Santa Cruz five days later. She had been stabbed and beaten.