Mother of murdered woman: Leave after first sign of abuse

THE mother of a San Fernando woman who is suspected to have been beaten to death by her boyfriend is urging young women to leave their relationships at the first sign of abuse.

Given the nature of the incident and the ongoing police investigation, all names have been withheld in this story.

"Listen when your parents or elders speaking. They could be giving you good information. When the first lash, is to leave. Do not stay in any abusive relationship," the victim's mother said on July 21.

"My daughter didn't listen and she paid the price. The last thing she said was it's her choice, and she dead today.

"Don't let that be y'all choice. Make a decision to come out of the relationship and do not stand for any abusive relationship."

Her daughter, a 22-year-old from Johnstone Street, was pronounced dead around 4.49 am on July 21 after she was hastily dropped off, unresponsive, at the San Fernando General Hospital's accident and emergency department around 2 am by an unknown vehicle.

Doctors told police the woman had marks of violence on her body.

Her mother told reporters on July 21 she was a loving child with ambitions of being an aesthetician. That was until she met the man who began abusing her. She said her daughter would call and ask for help, but when they arrived with police, she would claim the issues had been sorted out.

"So we couldn't do anything, because they (the police) used to say she's an adult. We would leave.
"A few months again, same thing again. She would call for help, we would go with the police, she would say she don't want to do anything."

The victim's mother said the abuse was so bad that her daughter suffered broken fingers, had to have surgery and had scars and bite marks on her body. She said the man even raped her daughter once, but she refused to take legal action.

She said the couple was evicted from where they were staying because the landlord was fed up with hearing the abuse and neighbours would often call the police.

Despite this, she said her daughter refused to leave the relationship, at least permanently.

"She came home on many occasions, probably like about ten times she came home, and we always tried to support her. We always show her love, always and she would always go back."

She said her daughter returned home around three weeks ago, but her boyfriend came and "snatched" her, forcing her into a vehicle and driving away. She said her daughter was injured in this incident and had to be taken to hospital.

She said the police were contacted and she was able to get her daughter to a safe location away from the abuse with everything she needed to survive.

However, she said her daughter chose to return to the abusive boyfriend on the night of July 19.

"I spoke to her Friday night. I told her, 'Don't go nowhere. Nobody supposed to know where you is. You hiding. You in a safe place.' She still left and she gone."

She said she and her mother last spoke to the woman around 10 am on July 20. They questioned why she went back into the abusive relationship.

"The last thing she say is, 'Because it's my choice.'

"That choice have her dead today. He kill her."

San Fernando police visited the woman's Johnstone Street home, where they were told her boyfriend woke a neighbour to help him take her to the hospital, as she was lying on his apartment floor unresponsive.

Crime scene investigators also went to the apartment on the morning of July 21 and recovered several pieces of clothing which were either torn or stained.

WPC Mohammed is continuing investigations.

Newsday was unable to find out whether the boyfriend was questioned or taken into custody, but police sources said Homicide Region Three was doing interviews on July 21.