A police search is underway in the North West District (NWD) of Region One for the man suspected of fatally stabbing the teenage girl who was found dead in a shop at Tenapu, then fleeing with their infant baby.
Last evening, Sharon Jones, mother of the murdered Gweneth Alexander, 18, pleaded with the police to find the suspected killer and to ensure the safe return of her seven-month-old grandchild. “All I want is meh grandchild,” Jones said, while noting that she was told that an all-stations bulletin had been sent out for ranks to be on the lookout for the man.
Up to press time last evening, police in the NWD were still looking for Alexander’s former partner, who is originally from the Barima River.
Sources told Stabroek News that the man was seen heading down to the river with the child sometime before the discovery of Alexander’s body. The man and the child were last seen in Port Kaituma on Tuesday.
Based on a post-mortem examination which was conducted yesterday by Dr. Nehaul Singh, Alexander, of Arakaka Village, NWD, died as a result of the perforation of the liver due to a stab wound.
It is alleged that her partner, who is described as abusive, killed the woman and locked her body up in the shop then fled with their son.
Jones, who is caring for the couple’s daughter at her home at Arakaka, told Stabroek News via telephone that Alexander was recently beaten by her partner after she confronted him about an affair he had with another woman at the shop, while she was away.
Jones said that when Alexander returned to Tenapu persons had told her that her husband had “a bad woman” in their home while she was away. The woman later went to Alexander and hinted at the affair, resulting in Alexander beating her before going to confront the man.
Jones said that she had been convinced that Alexander was beaten to death as her body, and particularly her head and face, painted that picture. However, she said that when she turned up for the post- mortem examination, she was told that Alexander had “a bore” by her navel but she looked and didn’t see anything.
According to Jones, she learnt of her daughter’s death after being alerted by customers who had been visiting but found the shop locked since Sunday. On Tuesday morning, some of them again visited the shop and found it still locked but they heard no baby crying. They apparently then peeped through a hole and saw the woman’s foot.
It was the police who subsequently broke into the shop and found Alexander dead on the bed.
Jones said that her daughter was regularly beaten by the man during their five years together.
She recalled that on two occasions her daughter complained to her that she was being beaten. The woman said that she advised Alexander but her daughter did not listen. “She end up back in the backdam,” Jones said, while adding that she had wanted her daughter to stay with her in Arakaka.
Alexander will be buried in Port Kaituma, where she was born.
