The grieving parents of two-year-old Xaevi’el Glasgow, who was declared dead after being left in the care of a babysitter in Couva on Friday, are demanding answers on what led to their son’s death.
His father Juval Glasgow yesterday said the heartbreaking loss was a hard pill to swallow, as his son had been in good health and spirits.
Speaking with reporters at the Forensic Science Centre, St James, Glasgow confirmed his two children had been attending the daycare at Grant Street, Couva, for the past two months.
Still reeling in shock over the incident, Glasgow struggled to make sense of what transpired in the hours leading up to his son’s death.
He said when he arrived to collect his boys just after 8 pm his intuition screamed that something “was off.” He said the 45-year-old woman’s behaviour last Friday made him step back mentally, as he immediately noticed her actions were strange.
He recounted, “She ran into the room and when she tried to wake him (Xaevi’el) up, she had him in a rocking position and his head was just moving back and forth ... like with no life.
“As she handed him over to me, I realised his weight was different and he was stiff. First thing I did was touch his chest for a heartbeat and I felt his neck for a pulse and I didn’t get either.”
The panicked father admitted to asking her, “You kill my child?”
He claimed he became alarmed when the woman allegedly grabbed his son and stuck her finger down his throat. Saying he wondered why she did this, as she claimed he was sleeping, Glasgow said, “She took out rice grains and the rice grains were still whole. They wasn’t chewed up.”
He claimed the woman also attempted to carry out CPR on Xaevi’el.
Police reports indicate that the unresponsive infant had been taken to the Couva District Health Facility by Global Medical Response of T&T (GMRTT) personnel at 8.36 pm on Friday. Efforts to resuscitate him were unsuccessful and he was pronounced dead at 9.03 pm.
Glasgow, a photographer attached to the Prime Minister’s office, explained that due to work commitments, he would often leave the boys in the woman’s care. The service, he said, was also convenient, as it allowed him to utilise it on weekends when he was called out to work at short notice.
Despite his heavy work schedule, Glasgow stressed, “I call every day on video call to check up, but that day I had a lot of assignments...I had to work.”
He said the woman did not answer his WhatsApp calls as she usually did when he called that evening.
He said the woman’s account of what happened has also changed several times since his son’s death.
“We are now hearing different stories, as she first said she put him to sleep around 4 pm, then 6 pm, and then right before I reached around 8 pm.”
He said he was further traumatised after learning his other son, who is four years old, was struck by an object in his left eye the same day. Glasgow said that child is now undergoing treatment for a blood clot in his eye.
He said his children never wanted for anything, as he and their mother worked hard to ensure they were provided with everything they needed.
He said it was only following his son’s death that other persons revealed their children had also been experiencing issues at the facility.
Glasgow remembered Xaevi’el as, “full of life and a very excited person.”
“If you around him you going to laugh...you will always want to love him up. He was a real smart child,” he said.
He added that his younger son was not rude or disrespectful but was a typical child laughing and playing.
To other parents who were in his situation and having to endure longer-than-usual work hours, he appealed to extended family members to step up and assist. He also pleaded with parents to listen to their young charges.
“Sometimes, our children does be crying out to us and telling us something and we ignoring it...thinking everything okay and just looking over it,” Glasgow urged
“Listen to them and take heed of what they saying. Sometimes they crying out for help.”
Guardian Media understands the woman was questioned and released as the investigation continues.