Cousin of murdered pregnant woman in mourning

SHANE SUPERVILLE

GREVIC ALVARADO

Instead of preparing for the birth of her niece or nephew, Jenny Cova Espinosa has to prepare for a funeral after her cousin Johandrys Espinoza Brache was found dead from apparent strangulation in St James on Thursday night.

Speaking with Newsday via Facebook on Friday, Espinosa's cousin, who lives in Margarita, Venezuela, said Johandrys has been living in TT for the past three years and spoke to her everyday.

"She came alone from Margarita, fleeing the socioeconomic problems of her country. She was barely three months pregnant, on Wednesday she wrote to tell me that everything was going well."

She said Johandrys was repeatedly threatened by a male relative, who works for the Venezuelan Embassy in TT and has been living alone until he visited her last Thursday

The relative has since been arrested and is expected to be interviewed by homicide investigators on Friday.

Newsday understands Espinosa's autopsy was postponed to Monday, as swabs taken from her body had to be tested for the coronavirus.