Colleen Daly, the North East La Penitence vendor who was brutally chopped about her body over the weekend attempted to leave her years-long marriage which was filled with domestic abuse on several occasions but despite this, her common-law husband kept after her.
Thirty-one-year-old Daly was chopped about her body around 5.45 pm last Saturday during a domestic dispute with her husband, Glenn Forde also known as “Black Boy” at their North East La Penitence home
Forde then climbed onto the roof of the house where he reportedly slit his throat before jumping off. He died on spot.
Up to yesterday, Daly remained a patient at the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPH). She has since undergone two surgeries. Her conditon is listed as stable.
In an exclusive interview with Stabroek News yesterday, the injured woman’s mother, Allison Daly related that the couple had been together for about eight years.
She said they met in neighbouring Suriname and from the inception, Forde abused Colleen.
The couple shared three children together. However, the children were not home at the time of the attack, since Forde had reportedly sent them to a relative’s place minutes before launching the act.
He then locked the door from inside, in an effort to prevent anyone from intervening, before he attacked Colleen.
According to Allison, the couple had an argument going since last Friday which escalated on Saturday, leading to the incident.
Allison believes that the act was premeditated.
“Fed up”
She explained that Colleen called her last Friday and informed her that she and Forde had an argument and he was sharpening a knife.
“Like the phone went on speaker or something. He (Forde) sharpening and the two ah them, yuh know, he busing and he going on ‘where yuh went?’ and these kinda things,” Allison said.
As a result, she said she encouraged Colleen to lodge a police report. “I say girl go to the station and she crying and she saying ‘Alo I fed up of this bai’. I say girl go to the station and I gone back to sleep,” Allison related.
According to Allison, Colleen did not take her advice.
Instead, she said on Saturday, she called her again. But this time, to say that the situation had worsened. “So when she call me, she seh ‘Alo yuh know this bai start again’. I seh girl you ain’t went to the station fah this bai’ and he deh in, like he deh in she face right because yuh hearing he. ‘Girl is where you went girl and you know these kinda bully thing. So I seh ‘bai wah really wrong with you? You starting this thing over again?’ and he seh ‘I asking she where she went since the other night and she aint telling me where she went’. But he aint sound normal. She start crying, she cut off the phone and she call meh back,” Allison further explained.
She said minutes after 5pm on Saturday, Colleen telephoned her again and it was during this call that Forde launched the attack. “The second time she call me back dah was it. Dah was it when I hear she holler ‘Alo, oh God I gone dead’ and like the phone fall down but I still hearing. She crying and then she start hollering ‘oh God Alo, help! Help!’ and she calling fah some Junior, help and she start hollering ‘Oh God Alo this bai go kill me, Alo I gone dead’. But how she going on, it left me shock because I know is something he doing,” Allison said.
Allison who works as a security guard was at work at the time and was unable to leave immediately.
As a result, she said she tried contacting the police. However, several calls went unanswered.
“So I trying to get the police, trying to get the police…..Calling 911 whilst the opposite neighbour, I get a number and she calling East La Penitence. We calling long and we ain’t getting nobody. When I finally get onto 911, then they seh they at the scene,” Allison recalled.
“It’s a normal, a constant thing”
Allison told Stabroek News that on numerous occasions she tried to talk Colleen out of the relationship.
However, she said although Colleen attempted to leave several times, the suspect never left her alone.
“She can’t leave because he is a person, he does track she down and these kinda things. She went in a serious relationship but like she didn’t know. I don’t think she did think it’s so serious but I did seeing it serious. Because he would curse her down and tell she he would kill she. He doesn’t want she come hay. …. That was a really abusive relationship. She had a lot of marks of violence on she skin…. I tried you know but it’s a normal, a constant thing,” Allison noted.
Allison described Forde as “insecure”. She said Forde didn’t even want Colleen to visit her place or that of any other family member.
If she did, Allison said Forde would show up and verbally abuse Colleen and in some instances threaten her.
“He gone jump on he bike and he go cuss up and go on and suh and he go come back, he gone go look fah she by me sista and suh. He use to use assertion and seh I gone kill you. You know he got this ignorant way in he. By time you family them reach, I go done gone and you go done dead,” Allison related.
Allison said based on her knowledge, Colleen made several reports to the police but every time they showed up, the suspect was never around.
“When I go (the station) yesterday (Sunday), the police saying, she (Colleen) does go back and deh back with he and you know. So when they come, they never reach him to catch him like. One officer seh, ‘girl like you daughter does tell this bai that we coming’”, Allison explained.
Allison added that she is aware of Forde being arrested on one occasion and being charged. “One time I think they reach to the court and then she (Colleen) must be went and beg and me ain’t know wah happen,” she said.
