(Trinidad Express) Shadie Dassrath was beaten to death in an apartment in La Romaine last Friday morning.
An autopsy done on the body of the 31-year-old woman found she died of blunt force trauma and sustained multiple blows to her body.
Hours after the autopsy was done, police detained a 24-year-old man in connection with the homicide investigation.
Shadie, a customer service representative, was found with a wound in the middle of her forehead, at the apartment she shared with a close relative.
She was nude and unresponsive when investigators found her in the Temple Street, La Romaine, apartment and pronounced dead by a district medical officer.
A 24-year-old security officer told the police that Shadie had returned to their home around 11 p.m. on Thursday, and they had an argument about a mark on her body.
He told officers she went to sleep in the bed while he stayed in the living room, and two hours later when he went to check on her, she was unresponsive.
The security officer sought help from a police officer residing in a neighbouring apartment and he contacted the police command centre.
Crystal Dassrath, the older sister of Shadie Dassrath, told the Express on Tuesday that she had advised her sister on several occasions to end the abusive relationship with the man.
Crystal said in a telephone interview: “That was her apartment, so when he threatened her, she would put him out. But she would take him back. She is not the first woman to go back to that type of relationship and, sadly, she will not be the last.”
Crystal said her sister would confide in her about the abuse, and she (Crystal) begged her sister to leave that apartment and stay at her home.
“She told me that she would not take him back. I did not hear from her for about three weeks. I called her and she said she was ‘all right’. Then the next news I get is that she had passed,” said the sister.
“My message to women is to seek help if you need it. When you ask people for advice, listen to it. And we as family members need to reach out more and lend support. Do not wait until something terrible happens and then you go to them. I am so sorry this has happened,” Crystal said.
Detectives of Homicide Region III are continuing investigations.
