Woman shot dead by son's father; he commits suicide

When Tot Lambkin’s grandson told her his father, her daughter’s abusive ex-boyfriend, had a good Christmas gift for her she never imagined he had murder on his mind. But after multiple death threats Kahriym Garcia, 31, fulfilled his promise, murdering 26-year-old Samantha Isaacs and then later took his own life.

Sunday Newsday visited Lambkin at her L’Anse Mitan, Carenage home yesterday.

“He’s just a demon from hell. Come into my daughter life and destroy it completely.”

According to an eyewitness, at around 5.05 am he was liming in Carenage when he heard four gunshots. On the main road in the vicinity of Ocean View hotel he saw a car speeding off and discovered Isaacs lying face down, bleeding and trying to breathe and making gurgling sounds. She had been shot in the leg and in the face.

“Her face was blown away.”

Isaacs was taken to Port of Spain General Hospital where she succumbed to her injuries.

At 10.15 am, five hours later, Cpl Clement, Cpl Hunte, Constable Frith and Constable Bourban from Western Division Task Force visited Garcia at his home in Resurrection, Carenage.

They attempted to enter the property when they heard a gunshot. They forced their way in and found him motionless with a gun on the floor, dead from an apparent suicide.

Lambkin said her daughter was sweet, kind and loving. “The best I could ever know. And a wonderful mother to her son Kaiden.”

On Friday night, Isaacs went to a school friend’s birthday party though Lambkin did not want her to go because she was scared for her safety. When she left she told her mother, “Mummy don’t miss me much. Don’t cry too much for me.” She did not know that would be the last words her daughter would ever speak to her.

“I did not know my daughter was going to die.”

She later found out that Garcia and a friend went to the party and “made confusion” and was put out by security. Isaacs’ friend dropped her home later but before she could climb the hill to her home, Garcia, and possibly an accomplice, shot Isaacs in the foot and threw her in the trunk of a car, a silver Hyundai Elantra. Isaacs reportedly escaped on the main road and Garcia got out and shot her in the face. When police found her she was able to say her child’s father had shot her.

Lambkin went to her home and started asking questions about a relative and his car.

They eventually told her that her daughter had died and when it registered she fell down. She gave police Garcia’s photo and his location.

“My loving daughter killed like some dog on the road.”

Isaacs attended St Francois Girls’ College and got all her passes in CXC. In 2011, she enrolled in the biochemistry programme at the University of the West Indies, St Augustine hoping to become a doctor. Around that time, she met Garcia and started dating him.

“I didn’t like him. I never liked him,” Lambkin said. She said he was very disrespectful and would greet her with profanity. She recalled he was a deportee from the United States because he was involved in gang violence. His day job was with a boating company in the area. He was also reportedly the son of a popular trade unionist but that could not be confirmed yesterday.

Lambkin said Isaacs’ siblings also disliked him and her father “hated his guts.”

“We begged her to leave the boy.”

She said the relationship would end and then resume again. Lambkin said Isaacs would support herself by doing promotional work and made a lot of money.

In 2014, Isaacs got pregnant and Lambkin recalled Garcia asked her to abort the baby but she refused and decided to drop out of university. She got a job at Digicel and decided to build her own place, the house where the family lives now. Before Isaacs had the baby, but after the house was finished, Garcia returned. Lambkin told him she did not want him in her yard but he said he wanted to be around his son.

Garcia began living with them but Lambkin recalled he would be cursing, smoking weed, drinking rum and causing “confusion.” She kept begging Isaacs to let him go.

A number of incidents followed: they learned Garcia’s grandmother had taken a restraining order out against him because he tried to kill her; he was shot three times while in Glencoe; Lambkin kicked him out of their home and he left, stealing thousands of dollars in jewellery; he broke into Isaacs’ room and put a knife to Lambkin’s throat before her husband fought him off; he would threaten to kill Isaacs repeatedly; and he almost ran over Isaacs’ brother.

“He told him I will kill you. Your sister. All of you. Everybody in the house.”

Isaacs took Garcia to court for maintenance and sought a restraining order against him but the magistrate delayed the case six times. Lambkin advised her to maintain her son herself and not bother with Garcia. There was another incident with Lambkin’s son in Port of Spain where Garcia attempted to run him over.

On his Facebook page Garcia wrote in August, “Wish I can hear my son’s voice or see his lil sweet face. Taking it day by day you keep it up man, keep it up!”

Lambkin warned her daughter that Garcia was using the excuse of wanting to see their son and drop money for him to get to her.

She said her daughter was going to buy a car from her brother but never got an opportunity to drive it. Garcia had told her she should by a car for him as “everybody buy a car for their man.”

Lambkin said she had just finished painting her home for Christmas and bought her chair set. “From now on I won’t celebrate Christmas. I love Jesus, but I not celebrating Christmas. It’s done.”

She hugged Kaiden and told him, “I will always take care of you.”

The autopsy for Isaacs is scheduled for tomorrow. Homicide and Western Division are continuing investigations.