Turkeyen woman’s throat slit, boyfriend suspected

By Mandy Thompson

A 24-year-old vendor was allegedly murdered by her boyfriend who slit her throat at their home around 11 am yesterday.

Dead is Sheurma Mentore, of Turkeyen, East Coast Demerara, who was found  lying in the grass at the back of her home with her throat slit and her hand cut. Her boyfriend, who was described as abusive by relatives and whose name was given as `Akieto’, fled the scene. He was later apprehended by police and is now a patient at the Georgetown Public Hospital where he is receiving treatment for injuries to his throat, chest and abdomen, the police stated in a press release. It is unclear how these injuries were sustained.

Mentore who lived in the top flat of the two-storey building with her boyfriend, who she shared a relationship with for over a year, was arguing with him at the back of the house when the incident occurred. No one was at home except for the woman’s grandfather and her toddler brother.

Sheurma Mentore

According to residents and the woman’s cousin, she was last seen alive earlier in the morning. The accused was also seen minutes before the incident by a friend who said that he appeared as though something was troubling him. The dead woman’s relatives also said that her boyfriend was in the habit of threatening to take her life but she never reported the matter to the police.

At the woman’s home yesterday, persons gathered to get a glimpse of the body before it was removed while her cousins, who she took care of, were inconsolable as they related what occurred minutes before the woman was found dead.

Two of her other cousins stated that they were over at their aunt’s home, a couple houses away, when the woman’s toddler brother came and told them that she was dead.  They stated that they immediately went back to their home where they found Mentore lying dead in the grass at the back of the house.

Her cousin said that the night before the incident, the accused had threatened to kill the woman. Her cousin added “dis morning she and he went a de back a de yard with me other cousin who left he arguing”.

It was after the cousin left that the accused is believed to have slit the woman’s throat. Her cousin also mentioned that Mentore’s boyfriend always beats her and they constantly argue with each other.

Another of her cousins also said that Mentore and the accused were living in Essequibo but she decided that she wanted to return to her home. Her boyfriend then moved in with her at the Turkeyen home after she moved back to the city but he was in the habit of constantly abusing her. The cousin said in tears “the girl seh she want go way, now he kill she she can’t get fuh go she way, he kill she with she eye open bai.”

Meanwhile, her differently-able grandfather, Patrick Mc McCauley, sat in a chair sadly at their home yesterday. He shares the bottom flat of the house and was at home at the time of the incident. However, he did not hear anything that might have drawn his attention to what was occurring. He stated that he was sitting when Mentore’s toddler brother came and told him that she was dead but he did not believe him. He added that because of his disability he cannot move so he did not go to investigate. It was after her cousins came and made the discovery that his worst fears were confirmed and he learnt of his granddaughter’s death. He said “I din like this boy at all cause he ain’t get manners he does pass me straight and don’t even say morning…” He continued “I tell she grandmother this morning that that boy gone kill Sheurma you know cause he does always follow she, she can’t go nowhere alone he deh behind her.”

Her grandfather also reiterated that the accused was always abusive to his granddaughter who never made a report to the police station. He said that relatives do not know much about the woman’s boyfriend except that he is from Essequibo.

Another of the dead woman’s cousins, Selema Cordis, recounted what had happened while her cousin was in the interior with her and the accused. She stated “when we went in the interior, he beat she and chop she and I mek a report to the claim holder and they put he out and he keep begging back and so.” She continued “he was like he gone kill heself anytime she seh she ain’t want he back so I seh `me cousin if this boy gone kill heself it gone come one time he gone kill you to’”.

Mentore who was the eldest of four children leaves to mourn her father, who is in the interior, and her siblings.  She was described as a calm and quiet individual by her relatives.