(Trinidad Express) An ex-boyfriend of Rio Claro mother of two Patrice Aaron has been charged with her murder.
Simon Cova, 42, also of Rio Claro, was arrested on Tuesday and charged two days later by homicide detectives who received instructions from the Director of Public Prosecutions Roger Gaspard.
Aaron was killed in her bed in her apartment at Naparima Mayaro Road, Poole, on February 14.
An autopsy found that she was bludgeoned and strangled.
Aaron, 30, who had suffered months of physical abuse at the hands of a former lover, was found dead on her daughter’s birthday and Valentine’s Day.
The nude body of Aaron, 30, was discovered with a wound to her head and blood splatter on the bedroom floor of her rented apartment.
A white bottle containing what police suspect is a poisonous substance was found clenched on her right hand and a white substance in and around her mouth.
Aaron’s daughter, aged six, and son, aged four, from a previous marriage, were at the home of her mother in Mayaro when the tragedy occurred.
A police report said that at around 5.30 p.m. a relative of Aaron contacted the Rio Claro Police Station and made a report of having received a voice note on her cell phone earlier in the day from Aaron.
The relative reported that at around 8 a.m., she received a voice note she heard a commotion in the background, but when she attempted to call Aaron her phone went unanswered.
Police officers responded and met the door to Aaron’s apartment locked.
With the assistance of the landlord of the apartment building on Naparima Mayaro Road, the doors were opened, and they discovered blood splattered on the bedroom floor.
A wound was seen on the right side of the head.
The body was removed from the scene and a post-mortem examination was to be done at the Forensic Science Centre.
Aaron’s funeral was held on February 25 in Mayaro.
