A hairdresser at the New Amsterdam Psychiatric Hospital was stabbed to death yesterday morning in the compound of the facility by her estranged husband who later turned himself into the police.
Lonette Nicholson-Prince, 22, of Lot 11 Levi Dam, Angoy’s Avenue sustained 15 stab wounds at the hands of the man, Sheldon Prince, who is a prison warder.
The 27- year old Prince turned himself over to the police in the presence of his attorney, Murselene Bacchus. Commander of B Division, Errol Watts confirmed that Prince was in custody and stated that he had turned himself in at around 11:50 am yesterday.
According to one of Lonette’s colleague, the two were in conversation in a room in the building where she worked, when the attacker entered.
“The guy kick the door and come, and I looked at him and he said I just want to talk to your friend”, the eyewitness said.
“He start talk to her and she raise up and ask him if that is how you does push door and come in”.
She relayed that the man told Lonette, “Man I just want talk to you”, after which she replied, “There is nothing we have to talk about”.
The eyewitness further explained that Lonette, a mother of one, then got up from her seat.
“As soon as she try to make her way to come to me, he took the knife from his waist on the right side and he start stabbing her”.
The woman stated that she has never been so scared in her life before, as how she was in that moment, noting that she started to scream, after which the attacker turned to her with the bloodied knife in his hands. However, she immediately ran out the room and raised an alarm. Other staff at the hospital told Stabroek News, that the man had been seen loitering around the compound before Lonette arrived at work.
Lonette’s father, Michael Nicholson told Stabroek News that his daughter arrived at work sometime around 8 am yesterday. He explained that he had offered her a drop to work.
“While going over the road at the junction from TI (NA Technical Institute) I saw him there”, the distraught father said.
The man noted that when he returned home, he told his wife that he had seen the accused and subsequently, he received a message that his daughter had been attacked and killed. “When we rushed to the hospital, me reach me daughter lie down on the ground, when dem check her, she got fifteen stab wounds”, Nicholson disclosed.
The man also said that the accused had made his escape with his daughter’s bag containing her phone and money.
Nicholson further stated that the couple had gotten married some five years ago, and have always had marital arguments. He noted that he even bought the couple a house at the back of Levi Dam, Angoy’s Avenue, so that they could live separately from him and his wife. According to him, the fights were about the alleged perpetrator never holding a steady job and always keeping known drug users as close friends.
Nicholson said that a few months back, an argument between the couple escalated and the accused hit his daughter to her head, and it was then that the woman had decided to call it quits on her marriage. “I take she to the station, from the station dem end up in court. Then he lawyer beg her lawyer to ask her to drop the case, that he gon leave she alone, and sign she divorce and thing”. The man at this time pointed out that his son-in-law had threatened to kill his daughter on numerous occasions.
“About two weeks back he sent a text that when she do catch she self, he gone deh right up to her and he know what he gone do”, the father said. He explained that he took his daughter to her lawyer, after which they reported the matter at the police station.
The attacker was a Prison Warder at the New Amsterdam Prison, but was transferred two weeks ago to the Mazaruni Prison.
Meanwhile, Director of Regional Health Services, Jevaughn Stephens when contacted explained to this newspaper that three security guards were on site at the time of the incident. According to Stephens, Lonette’s colleagues at the hospital were not aware of her personal issues, hence they did not pay much attention to her husband’s presence in the compound. In the past the man would regularly visit his wife. He also noted that yesterday was clinic day at the Psychiatric Hospital. The director stressed that all necessary protocols had been observed.
“We here at Health Services are very saddened by what happen here today”, Stephens said. He called on the B Division Administration to ensure that justice is served swiftly.
According to Stephens, had the administration been aware of Lonette’s situation, better security systems would have been put in place for her protection. The Director also took the opportunity to call on persons who may be victims of domestic violence to speak out against their abuser(s). Stephens pledged that measures will be put in place in order to ensure that an incident of such nature never recurs in the future.
He also extended his heartfelt condolences on behalf of the Ministry of Public Health, to the victim’s relatives, colleagues and friends.
Lonette leaves a four-year-old daughter, her parents and her four siblings to mourn her passing. One of her sisters, a nurse at the New Amsterdam Public Hospital, was seen going in and out of consciousness at their home, after receiving the news of her sister’s murder.
