Lucky to be alive

THE WOMAN who was one of the victims of the brutal Good Friday attack in Malabar, is thanking her lucky stars that she is still alive to tell the story. Gracelyn Frederick received several vicious stabs to her body on Friday — the day she decided to tell her boy-friend that their six-month relationship was over. The 24-year-old woman was the victim of a brutal assault by a prisons officer at Semp Avenue, Malabar. The officer is now detained by the police pending further investigations. Her decision to break the news to him on Good Friday, prompted a stabbing attack which left her hospitalised. While she was lucky to be alive, the suspect’s 17-year-old daughter Giselle Frederick was not so lucky as she was stabbed to death. Fredericks’ home which she shared with the suspect was gutted by fire which police believed was deliberately set.

Frederick was unaware yesterday that her stepdaughter was murdered, and her house was gutted. Frederick remained in serious condition at Ward 23 of the Port-of-Spain General Hospital yesterday, suffering from a punctured lung and other stab wounds to her body. She has not yet given a statement to the police because of her condition. The former waitress who was barely able to speak from her hospital bed grimaced in pain while being comforted by her father Wayne Prime and other relatives. Frederick said she wanted to end the relationship with the man because of his obsessive ways and violent behaviour. She said that on Good Friday, she had an argument with the man who, in a fit of rage, took a knife from the kitchen and began stabbing her about her body.

When she collapsed to the ground in a semi-conscious state, the man placed her in his car, drove to the Arima Hospital and left her in the Casualty Department. She remembers being asked her name and address but then suffered a blackout. When she awoke, she was at the Port-of-Spain General Hospital suffering from a severely punctured lung. Doctors at the hospital said Frederick was lucky to be alive because of the extent of damage to her lung, but they managed to stop the bleeding and will be carrying out another operation soon to try and repair her damaged lung. Frederick’s father said yesterday that he was shocked on learning about the attempt to murder his daughter. He added that at no time did he ever suspect that his daughter’s life was in danger.

He expressed concern about the treatment meted out to his daughter at the hospital and demanded a meeting with doctors to find out how serious his daughter was injured. Police investigators told Newsday that they have already secured a statement from Kevin Frederick, a 12-year-old schoolboy who witnessed the stabbing death of his half sister Giselle Frederick on Friday. The boy is expected to undergo counselling. Yesterday, investigators returned to the scene of the stabbing death as part of the ongoing investigations. An autopsy will be carried out tomorrow at the Forensic Science Centre following which Director of Public Prosecutions Geoffrey Henderson will be consulted in the matter.

The suspect remained in a cell at the La Horquetta Police Station yesterday. He has not yet given a statement to the police. Antoinette Cox Frederick, the mother of murder victim Giselle Frederick was attended to by doctors yesterday and treated for shock and stress. She was divorced from the suspect one month ago and was in the process of working out a settlement. Colleagues of the suspect said that he was on constant sick leave from work. Prisons Commissioner John Rougier said the Welfare Department of the Prison Service will be in contact with the suspect to offer any assistance which he may require. Sgt Don Lezama of the Arima Police Station is investigating.