Senior Reporter
kevon.felmine@guardian.co.tt
While an investigation and social media speculation continue into the tragic death of Renee Mitchell at the Solset: Supernova Premium Drinks Fete over the weekend, her sister, Darmeil Cyrus, is calling for more safety features at San Fernando Hill.
In an interview at their mother’s home in Fyzabad yesterday, Cyrus said she believed Mitchell’s fall was an accident. However, she said there should have been barricades and better lighting at the edges.
“She is the first person ever to fall off San Fernando Hill. They needed to implement more measures before. My sister is not a drinker. She is not a smoker. Some people would drink to the extreme, where anybody could fall off the cliff. Some children ride bikes, and there are play parks.
“Now the mayor comes out and says he is sorry, and everybody empathises, sympathises and offers condolences. She is already gone. If things were in place before, she could have been alive today,” Cyrus said.
She also called on fete promotors to monitor the perimeters, saying people get intoxicated at these events.
“It is not all about the money. It is lives.”
Mitchell fell and rolled, stopping on a sloping terrace at the side of the hill some 150 feet from where she slipped. A report stated that she went to relieve herself between two hedges and slipped. Her boyfriend, Peter Rebeiro, heard her screaming and immediately alerted fire officers after realising what had happened. When rescuers returned to the top with her around 6.40 am Sunday, she was unconscious. She died at the San Fernando General Hospital less than an hour later.
Mitchell leaves behind her 16-year-old son Kyle and one-year-old Adonis.
Cyrus said Adonis saw news of Mitchell’s death on the television, shouting “Mom” when her photo appeared on the screen. She said she believes Kyle will be okay, as he is a strong boy.
Cyrus said she and Mitchell communicated daily and last had a WhatsApp conversation on Saturday, but said she did not know about her attending the fete.
When Cyrus got up Sunday morning to cook, she picked up her phone to call Mitchell but her son handed her his phone. It was their mother, Jean Cyrus, on the phone delivering the tragic news. She then called Rebeiro, who told her that Mitchell had fallen off a cliff. She said she dropped the phone and started screaming.
“After I called him back, he told me that my sister went a fete and she went to pee, and as she stooped, she stumbled forward, and he just heard her bawl out, and she fell. That was the story. I was not there.”
Cyrus said a doctor told her rescuers took a while to get Mitchell, as they went via the Olera Heights community first but could not get her. They later chose to go down the hill with ropes and when they reached there, she was responsive.
“She was speaking. It was the time they took to bring her back up on some board. Maybe it was the jerking to get her up. She died before she reached the hospital. She reached the hospital at 7.45 am, and the doctors said her eyes had already dilated and she had no pulse.”
Cyrus said she lived in San Fernando most of her life and played on the San Fernando Hill as a child. She never heard of anyone falling off. Cyrus said God alone knows why her sister chose that spot to relieve herself. She said she heard Mitchell was leaving and felt the urge and decided to go there before entering the vehicle.
Cyrus believed her sister would not willingly jeopardise her life to leave her son behind. Noting speculation of foul play, Cyrus said she does not believe it.
“Knowing how my brother-in-law loves his son and my sister, I cannot put my hand in the fire for nobody, but I would not even want to think that way. People can say what they want.”
Cyrus said Mitchell was an active person and a sports lover, noting she settled down as a mother, doing her duties. She said Mitchell and Rebeiro had been together for nine years, always laughing and going out. She knew Rebeiro as a calm man. Cyrus said if there were any complaints, her sister would have told her and dealt with it.
Rebeiro told Guardian Media that he got advice not to say anything yesterday. He accompanied Jean to the Forensic Science Centre, St James, yesterday, where an autopsy took place.