Mayaro double murder caused by sin

In admonishing a small crowd of mourners, Pastor Rampersad Lutchman told them that the path which they chose in life could shape their present and future.

Ria Ramlochan, 25, and her son Ishmael Ragbir, were placed together in a single white casket — just as they lived alone in the one-bedroom shack at Solomon Trace.

Pastor Lutchman said, "The choices we make in life will determine our tomorrows. Sin has a nature which causes us to be blind."

As he looked down on the casket bearing the bodies, the pastor, in a solemn tone, said, "Unfortunately, I did not know Ria and Ishmael, but my heart is broken because their passing is abnormal."

Ramlochan and her infant were found murdered on Saturday — victims of what detectives believe was an abusive relationship. The young mother chose to end the relationship, but this was met with death. Ramlochan’s corpse was found in an outhouse. Ishmael’s body was found floating in the nearby Ortoire River. Police said mother and son were stabbed to death in the bed which they shared.

"One thing I know is that Ria and Ishmael were not prepared for their deaths," Pastor Lutchman, of Overflowing Life Ministries, said. The pastor advised mourners that the lesson from the double murder was to learn from past mistakes, "otherwise we are doomed for life."

Yesterday’s funeral service was held at Ramlochan’s maternal grandmother’s house on Lady Hailes Avenue, San Fernando. Holding a picture frame with photographs of the murdered mother and son, Ramlochan’s mother Shakila Gokool wept uncontrollably. "Why Ria! Why!" she sobbed as pall-bearers put the coffin into the hearse.

Ishmael’s two-year-old cousin, Aaliyah, apparently aware that her playmate was in the coffin, broke away from her mother’s hands and, pointing to the casket, said repeatedly, "Baby, baby." Ramlochan’s father, Krishna Sookoo, arrived at the Mosquito Creek Cremation site minutes before the casket was put into the pyre and set ablaze.