Relatives of Sylvia Candice Douglas-Mohammed experienced the worst Mother’s Day on Sunday. Instead of gathering over food, fun and gifts, family instead congregated to mourn the death of the 34-year-old, who was stabbed 17 times about the body. Speaking at her mother’s Cane Farm, Trincity home yesterday, Douglas-Mohammed’s younger sister, Christal Douglas, said her sister was a “real loving” person. “Words can't explain, we are saddened that is the way she had to go. I was at home cooking when my brother called saying she was dead. Mother’s Day would never be the same again for us,” Douglas said.
Douglas-Mohammed’s mother, Andrea Baptiste, said her daughter came from a large family of five brothers and sisters. She described her daughter as “beautiful and stubborn”. Baptiste said her daughter would normally make macaroni pie and bring it to her home yearly to celebrate Mother’s Day. She added that her daughter’s macaroni pie was heavenly. Asked what was her Mother’s Day request, Baptiste said all her daughter wanted was to complete her test papers by today. The management student at SAM’s was a customer sales representative at the Unit Trust Corporation (UTC) for the past eight years. She was a mother of two boys ages 8 and 12, with the elder son having sat the SEA exams last week.
Found by brother
Douglas-Mohammed was found stabbed to death at her Caroni home on Sunday. According to police reports, Douglas-Mohammed’s brother, Quentin Lyndon Baptiste, went to visit her at her Rattan Street, Kelly Village, Caroni home, but found her in her bedroom dead. Baptiste contacted a neighbour, a police officer, who, on examining the body, found that she had been stabbed.
A 42-year-old male relative of Douglas-Mohammed was held for questioning and later released. Douglas-Mohammed’s mother said her daughter was both emotionally and verbally abused in her relationship. Her sister advised those in abusive relationships to not wait until it gets too late to get out.
Douglas-Mohammed will be buried tomorrow following a funeral service at the St Charles’ RC Church in Tunapuna. In an unrelated incident, Alex Farrell, 20, of Imbert Circular just off Waterwheel Road, Diego Marti,n was shot dead yesterday. Police reports are that around 3.30 pm, Farrell was sitting in a garage with his 13-year-old sister and brother when a man approached. The man pretended to be heading to a nearby parlour, but when he got closer to Farrell he pulled out a gun and shot him. Farrell ran and collapsed a short distance away. His attacker then stood over him and shot him several times before running off. Police said Farrell is not known to be involved in any criminal activity. Farrell’s sister was also shot in the leg and was taken to the St James Medical Complex and later transferred to the Eric Williams Medical Complex, where she was warded. Inspector Thomas and Sgt Forde-Jack visited the scene and are assisting Homicide Detectives with their investigations. The murder toll is now 164, while for the same period last year there were 142 murders.