The young mother of three who was recently accused of fatally stabbing her common-law husband at their Alberttown residence was yesterday charged with manslaughter and granted bail in the sum of $300,000.
The charge which was brought against 20-year-old Aaliyan Lewis also called ‘Dacia’, a waitress of Lot 57 Fourth Street, Alberttown, Georgetown, stated that on March 18 at the aforementioned address, she unlawfully killed Esan Hamilton who was a construction worker.
Lewis was not required to plead to the indictable charge when she appeared before Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan at the Georgetown Magistrate’s Court.
The police prosecutor told the court yesterday that on the day in question at about 06:30 hours, the defendant and the now dead Hamilton had a misunderstanding. During interrogation Lewis claimed that Hamilton was being abusive towards her and as a result she picked up a knife which was nearby and dealt him a stab to the left side of his abdomen.
Due to the severity of his injury the matter was subsequently reported to the police and Lewis was later arrested, cautioned, and, during a recorded interview, eventually admitted to committing the act, the police said.
The couple had shared one of three bedrooms with their three children on the upper flat of a two-storey house at Lot 57 Fourth Street, Alberttown.
Police ranks visited the scene at about 8.30 am on March 18 and spoke with one of the deceased man’s aunts, Stacey Moses, who said that she was in the kitchen when she saw Hamilton exit the bedroom whilst holding his abdomen and he told her, “Look what Dacia did to me.” She immediately placed her nephew in a chair to sit and upon examining the injury, saw that it was a stab wound.
Moses added that a few seconds later she saw Lewis also exiting the bedroom holding a silver knife in her hand. She then asked the young woman about the injury sustained by Hamilton but received no response from her. The aunt subsequently alerted another family member and they called for a taxi and took Hamilton to the Georgetown Public Hospital where he died while receiving treatment.
At the scene on Saturday, Lewis’s attorney, Suzanne Bullen, and another aunt of the dead man, had described the young couple’s relationship as “abusive.” Bullen had told Stabroek News that her client had stated on many occasions that Hamilton had abused her. She had added that Lewis had recently taken out a restraining order against the man and had gone to live with her mother. However, the man kept calling the woman’s phone pleading with her to go back to live with him and she complied.
“…They have been together for about six years, she has three children for him, ages four and the twins are two years old. This was a very abusive relationship from the inception, she recently got a restraining order against him, the restraining order was when he had damaged her eye…he had broken her jaw before as well.”
“She had left but he kept calling her and so she decided to go back there, he’s a very insecure person, he would always accuse her of being unfaithful to him so I guess she had just wanted to prove that she was not on the road with somebody else as he would think so she went back,” the attorney stated.
Bullen went on to say that Lewis was at her mother’s house the entire Friday but had left to return to the man’s premises that afternoon when an argument ensued between them.
It was alleged that the young woman attempted to leave but Hamilton kept holding onto her bag which resulted in her sleeping there the night.
The following morning, the lawyer had noted that a second argument had erupted between the couple and as Lewis attempted to leave once more, Hamilton again prevented her from doing so which prompted her to stab the man in his abdomen. “They had a fight this morning [Saturday morning] about her leaving, it was like he was telling her to leave but when she tried to leave he didn’t want her to leave so he kept preventing her from leaving and that’s when the incident happened.”
In addition, another aunt of the man who lives next door had said, “The incident happened like around six this morning or just after seven, I live at the back of them so I heard that they had some issue and he slapped her and when he slapped her she stabbed him with a knife… but I know it was a very abusive relationship.”
While Bullen was present at the hearing virtually, Lewis was also represented by attorney Darren Wade who appeared in court in person and made a bail application for his client. During the application Wade asked the court to take into account that the defendant is of a tender age and has three young children who need her. He said that the woman has no antecedents and is willing to adhere to any conditions that may be placed upon her by the court.
As such he asked that the court show mercy by granting his client minimal bail. The prosecutor in response presented no objection to bail and the magistrate released Lewis on $300,000 bail with conditions. It was stipulated that the defendant must report to the Alberttown Police Station on the first Monday and last Friday of every month until the conclusion of the matter. She was also ordered to not contact any family member of the deceased.
The matter was then adjourned until April 13.
