(TRINIDAD EXPRESS) Mother-of-two Vanessa Ali was the second woman to be killed in 2018.
She was found in an abandoned cane field in Barrackpore on January 4.
Ali was shot in the forehead and her nose was bashed in. There were bruises about her body.
Investigators believe the Ali, who was also known as Inga Scheult, was killed in a drug deal gone wrong.
Police have a description of the vehicle Ali was last seen driving. And they have a location in which she was spotted the night before she died.
Yet, no one has been detained in connection with her brutal killing.
Her relatives are now calling on the police to find the person responsible for the woman’s death.
Ali, who was unemployed, was mother to two girls, ages seven and three. The children live with their father in Rio Claro.
Ali lived at Matilda, Princes Town, but at the time of her death she was staying at a house in La Romaine, police found.
A female relative, who asked not to be named, said she was not satisfied with the police investigation into Ali’s murder.
“Yes, we know they say it was a drug deal gone wrong. But there is a video showing the vehicles, the place she was at and other things. The police should have gone there and done some investigations. They could have taken in someone for questioning. That was never done. We need to get some answers. Someone can’t just murder a person and walk freely. That is wrong,” she said.
The relative said Ali’s children were well taken care of and were beginning to understand what has happened.
“We do play an active role in the children’s lives. They are well taken care of by their father and grandmother and we are part of their lives. They are doing very well in school,” she said.
The relative said they, too, were concerned about their safety. She appealed to investigators to keep her sister’s case open.
Ali’s friends described her as a woman with a good heart but fast life.
In a video recorded the day before she died, Ali is seen wearing similar clothes as when her body was found.
The 39-second clip shows her parked on the road in what appears to be a squatters’ settlement.
It shows her giving something to a man and being given something in return, before driving off.
The car, a blue Suzuki Swift, was not found.
A friend who asked not to be named questioned whether society had failed Ali.
She was a school drop-out and became pregnant at age 15.
“She had bad company and never really listened when people tried to give her good advice. She wanted her own way and that was the problem,” the friend said.
The friend said had someone intervened and showed genuine interest in saving Ali she may still be alive.
Her friends have also appealed to the police to find the people Ali was seen liming with on the day before she died.
