Priest at murdered mum’s funeral: Love and licks don't mix

Likening murder victim Adeina Alleyne to Jesus Christ, an RC priest said she laid down her life so her children could live.

Fr David Khan told mourners that despite all Alleyne’s pains, her sadness, and her sorrow, the mother of three knew the love of God.

"She knew that love so much, she laid down her life for her children,” he said.

"For those who do not know, in her last moments, the trickery was, the deceit was he (the killer) was going to kill her child. That was the trickery, and she offered herself as a sacrifice."

Khan officiated at Alleyne’s funeral on Monday at the Our Lady of Perpetual Help RC Church, Harris Promenade, San Fernando.

Without referring to Alleyne’s killer by name, Khan prayed for the soul of the man who committed the heinous act. He labelled the killer a deceiver and a manipulator.

Alleyne, 35, was stabbed and chopped on Tuesday last week at the Embacadere, San Fernando home of her estranged boyfriend, Dwight "Quan" Waldron, 34 – the father of her sons, seven and two. The sons witnessed the crime. The older child called neighbours who found his parents’ bodies. Waldron died by suicide.

Alleyne, a supervisor at Puff N’ Stuff bakery, and Waldron had a tumultuous relationship over the past few years.

At the service, the younger son took turns sitting on the laps of his grandmother and other relatives drinking a bottle of tea.

He was also seen playing in the pews but later fell asleep in the arms of his grandmother.

His older brother slept during most of the funeral, clutching a rose. Before the body was taken to the cemetery, he placed the rose inside the coffin.

Alleyne’s ten-year-old daughter from a previous relationship appeared attentive.

The priest warned people in abusive relationships to leave if their partners are ill-treating them. Khan also warned about people using the word "love" but doing things to the contrary.

He said Christ’s love is genuine, adding: "This man (Waldron) did not love like Christ."

The priest said some people still believe in the "foolish" statement: "He loves me, that is why he beats me."

"If he loves you, he will never beat you!" Khan said, acknowledging that men too are abused by their spouses.

Abuse always begins with language and results in action, Khan said. Violence, he said, does not solve problems.

"When you replace Almighty God with whatever, you have lost morals, your direction, and it will only end in chaos. That is what happened to our sister."

Mourners remembered Alleyne as a person who would always go the extra mile. One said she had a loving and caring personality. A co-worker remembered Alleyne as a remarkable woman with neat handwriting and whose hairstyles and attire were "always intact."

Scores of mourners, including Alleyne’s children, wore T-shirts with her image.

The body was taken to the Roodal Cemetery in San Fernando for burial.

Newsday learnt that Waldron’s funeral took place on Saturday.

Alleyne is one of several recent domestic-related murder /gender-based violence victims over the past few months.

On Friday, a man threw gasoline on a woman, 19, after he shot and killed her boyfriend in Valencia. She managed to escape unhurt.

On March 4, a Princes Town woman, 30, was shot and wounded in her living room. The unknown intruder ran off.

Two days earlier, on March 2, Karen Rauseo’s body was found at a house at Buen Intento Road, Princes Town. The 53-year-old mother of two and grandmother of one was beaten. Hours after the discovery, police held her common-law husband, Robert Taylor. Police charged him with murder, and the case is pending.

On February 28, a Penal woman, 26, was shot to the back of her head at home by a gunman who fled. She survived the ordeal.

Andrea Bharatt, 23, was kidnapped on January 29 after getting into a PH car. Her body was found at the bottom of a precipice in the Heights of Aripo six days later. The incident sparked nationwide protests and vigils with people calling for women to be protected.

The vigils also highlighted other murder victims like San Juan resident Ashanti Riley, 18, who was kidnapped and later killed after getting into a PH car in December.