Granny, babysitter charged

The twins drowned in a bathtub on July 31 at their Casuarina Boulevard, Valencia Gardens, Valencia home after a six-year-old, in whose care they were left, attempted to bathe them.

Grandmother Jean De Freitas-Campbell’s bail will be deposited to the court in the form of a cheque. She was also asked to surrender her passport to police, after objections were raised about her being a flight risk.

Both De Freitas-Campbell and babysitter Ingrid Durity, appeared before Magistrate Judy Gordon in the Second Court to answer the charges laid by Cpl Christopher Fuentes. The two were escorted from the Sangre Grande Police Station to the nearby courthouse at 9.07 am, by ASP Margaret Sampson-Browne and WPC Goora.

They were scheduled to appear in the First Court but there was no magistrate and they were taken before Gordon in the Second Court.

A small group of curious onlookers gathered outside the court to watch the duo make their way into the court.

Sombre expressions were on the faces of the two accused women as they waited for the matter to be called. Grandmother De Freitas-Campbell propped her chin, sometimes glancing at relatives, while Durity stared upwards, at one point, shaking her head in disbelief.

At 9.50 am, De Freitas-Campbell’s matter was called by Gordon. One charge against De Freitas-Campbell was that on July 31, 2006 at No 3 Casuarina Boulevard, Valencia Gardens, Valencia, in the limits of the County of St Andrew, she unlawfully killed Tyler Campbell.

The other charge read that on the same day in question, De Freitas-Campbell unlawfully killed Tylin Campbell. She was not called upon to enter a plea to the charges.

In an application for bail, Richard Clarke-Willis said his client — De Freitas-Campbell — was unemployed and of good character, with no previous or pending matters. He added she was a “stranger to these proceedings,” was on medication and had three children, two of whom lived in the US.

Clarke-Willis added that the grandmother was “clearly in a state of grief over the unfortunate train of events.”

Court Prosecutor Cpl Wayne Coutain said he was not objecting to bail but wanted certain conditions attached. He said the police had information that De Freitas-Campbell was an American resident and suggested she surrender to police her US and TT passports.

But Clarke-Willis said De Freitas-Campbell did not have a Green Card or a US passport. He told the court, De Freitas-Campbell lived in the US for 41 years and gave up her American citizenship in 1997, when she returned to Trinidad. He lamented it was more than ten years ago, which was a “significant time.”

Gordon enquired whether De Freitas-Campbell had dual citizenship, but was told no. She also wanted evidence of the grandmother surrendering her US citizenship, but was later told by Coutain that the grandmother was deported.

“So she is a deportee? What evidence do you have to show that,” enquired the magistrate.

Told there was no evidence to support the claim, Gordon appeared puzzled and said she was not satisfied. She requested that the AG’s office be contacted and documents be sent to the court about the matter. She said it was only prudent that the court examine documents to show De Freitas-Campbell was no longer a US citizen.

The magistrate also questioned the reason for De Freitas-Campbell’s deportation, asking if she was an illegal alien. When the matter was later called, Coutain told the court he had spoken to officials at the AG’s Office who confirmed that the grandmother was a deportee. The court was not told the reason for her deportation, but her TT passport was surrendered.

The magistrate then set bail in the sum of $90,000 with a surety to be approved by a Clerk of the Peace.

The matter was adjourned to August 18. The court was told the bail would be sent to the court in the form of a cheque.

Prior to De Freitas-Campbell’s appearance before the magistrate, Durity, of 15 Valencia Road, Valencia stood before the magistrate on the same two charges. She was not called upon to plead. Her attorney Indar Jagroo, in applying for bail, told Gordon that Durity was a mother of five whose husband was deceased.

He said Durity was not a full- time babysitter but merely assisted in certain circumstances. He said she was “maintained by her children and has a medical condition of an enlarged heart and ulcers. She is seeking medical attention at the Sangre Grande Hospital.”

Jagroo asked for bail to be set at a reasonable amount, since Durity had no previous or pending matters.

With no objections from Coutain, bail was set in the sum of $90,000 with a surety to be approved by a Clerk of the Peace. She too will reappear in court on August 18.