[UPDATED] Woman killed 2 weeks after filing restraining order

DESPITE having a restraining order against her former on-and-off boyfriend, a 42-year-old mother of two from Claxton Bay accepted his invitation to go out and lime on the night of December 7.

By the morning of December 8, Angel Lutchman was found murdered in her bedroom at Abraham Street, Pranz Gardens.

The body of her ex-boyfriend, Shazard Mohammed, 29, a technician, was also found in the room. He is believed to have stabbed her and slit her throat before dying by suicide.

Two weeks earlier, Lutchman had obtained a restraining order against Mohammed, the father of one, who lived a few houses away.

Lutchman, who ran an online business, had two children from a previous relationship and was also a grandmother.

Her 12-year-old son made the gruesome discovery after returning home from spending the night at a relative’s house.

The weeping child was seen being escorted by relatives into a car and leaving when Newsday visited the house on December 8.

Speaking at Lutchman’s home, a relative told Newsday that she had gone out with Mohammed and had informed several people.

Lutchman lived with her son, who had gone to spend the night at his god-brother’s home in the community.

“He was calling and could not get his mother at around 8.30 am. He climbed through a window to get into the house where he found the bodies. She was on her bed,” a relative who asked not to be named said.

“We do not know where they went to lime or what time they got back. Angel was very crafty. She was a seamstress and operated her clothes store out of her home. She was the sweetest soul.”

The relative said Lutchman had recently reported a death threat to the Couva police after Mohammed tried to attack her with a knife.

“About two days ago, the police came looking for him and could not find him. He pulled a knife on her.”

The relative warned others to leave abusive relationships.

“If he hit you once, leave. Do not stay and feel that he will get better. Angel had a close relationship with her (adult) daughter, with both children,” the relative added.

She speculated that had the son been at home, he too might have been murdered.

She noted that while Mohammed was responsible for the murder, his family did not commit the act and they too have lost a relative.

Relatives said the two had a tumultuous relationship that began about a year ago.

Her family said Mohammed was abusive and the two often fought.

Scores of people gathered at the house to pay their respects. Among them, Lutchman’s brother, Mark Lutchman, recalled that Mohammed often threatened to kill his sister.

Sometime in July, when Mohammed was staying at the Lutchman family’s house, Mark said Mohammed threatened to kill her.

For that reason, Mark said he wanted Mohammed out of the house for good. But he added that his sister was an adult.

His advice to others: “From the time a relationship reaches a point where there is a lot of physical abuse and threats being made, get out! Do not stay. Find a safe zone and move. Once they hit you once, they will do it over and over.”

He said his sister was a friendly person with friends everywhere, and Mohammed did not like that.

“She was a people person, so anywhere she went, people would stop to talk to her. He was jealous of that. He did not want her to speak with anybody unless he said so.”

Mark recalled calling his sister to visit another sibling, but Mohammed was not pleased with letting her go. He claimed his sister had previously worked at a store, but Mohammed stopped her from returning, citing long hours.

He added that she switched to another store in Chaguanas, but Mohammed “banned her” from the job.

“She did not make a month there. He told her to stay home and do her online business. When I went into the house and saw the condition my sister was living in, compared to what she was accustomed to, I was ashamed. It is sad.”

The Mohammed family acknowledged that the two regularly had verbal and physical altercations, but said the couple was inseparable.

Cries from inside the house could be heard from the front gate.

A close relative said Mohammed was the only son of his mother, who also has two adult daughters.

“He was a good person. He was always trying. Shazard was humble. The two of them were always fighting. They tried counselling, but that did not work. We tried to keep him away from her, but somehow, they always got back together,” she said.

Relatives said that during the night of December 7, the two were heard arguing, but when the argument stopped, villagers assumed they had retired to bed.

His relatives claimed that both Mohammed and Lutchman had threatened each other.

“She would send text messages to a relative saying things like she would ‘put him down’ and ‘get rid of him.’ It was from both sides.”

They said both families are in mourning and urged people to walk away from abusive relationships.

Police from the Central Division and the Homicide Bureau of Investigation, Region Three, visited the scene and gathered evidence.

This incident comes just two weeks after UNC councillor for Siparia/San Francique, Romona Victor, 36, was murdered by her husband, Rodney Ramsumair, 45, at their home at Coora Branch Road, Siparia, on November 23.

Victor died from blunt force trauma to her neck and head. Her father, Francis, found the couple’s bodies. Ramsumair also died by suicide.

The couple was said to have had a troubled relationship for over a decade.

This story was originally published with the title "Claxton Bay woman killed by ex-boyfriend who dies by suicide" and has been adjusted to include additional details. See original post below.

A tumultuous relationship that began about a year ago ended with the murder of a 42-year-old mother of two, and the death by suicide of her killer on December 8, in Claxton Bay.

The dead are Angel Lutchman, 43, and technician Shazard Mohammed, 29, both of Pranz Gardens.

The woman, who ran an online business, has two children from a previous relationship.

Her 12-year-old son made the gruesome discovery after returning home from spending the night at a relative's house.

She was stabbed and her throat was slit in her bedroom. Mohammed's body was found nearby in the room.

Two weeks ago, she obtained a restraining order against Mohammed, a father of one. He lived a few houses away.

Her family said Mohammed was abusive and the two often fought regularly. While his family acknowledged that the two regularly had verbal and physical altercations, they said the couple were inseparable.