As news of the gruesome killing and dismembering of four-year-old Amarah Lallite began to circulate in the early hours yesterday, an already traumatised nation fell to its knees as details of the horrific act became known.
An overwhelming outpouring of prayers began almost instantly for the four-year-old, who was reportedly killed by a man who had been like a father to her for almost her entire life.
In shock as she walked out of the Forensic Science Centre in St James after identifying little Amarah’s body yesterday, her mother, Tricia Villaruel, choked up as she whispered, “I never thought he would have done that. He loved Amarah.”
She added, “He would have killed for her, he always protected her. He was never violent to her.”
Little Amarah is believed to have been killed between 10 pm Monday and midnight yesterday at her Fifth Street, Five Rivers, Arouca home by her stepfather, even as her mother stood before officers at the Arouca Police Station filing a domestic disturbance report.
At the FSC yesterday, the weeping Villaruel recounted, “My daughter Amarah was a loving, loving, loving child.”
Staring blankly off before grief caused her to close her eyes, she went on, “She was the light of the room. Everybody loved this child. Everybody...”
Fighting to find the words as her elder daughter stood at her side, Villaruel shook her head, saying, “I can say nothing bad about her. I don’t know what would make him want to harm that child so much. She was a darling. She was everybody darling.”
Villaruel, 41, and the 39-year-old suspect were involved in a common-law relationship which spanned Amarah’s age.
Asked if the suspect had ever been violent before or what could have triggered the homicidal episode, the grieving woman appeared confused, saying, “No, he never showed any indication of being schizo. I don’t want to say, but that’s how he was acting, like if he was a different person, and different personalities were talking to me that night.”
But she claimed she had never experienced such a side of the suspect before.
“He never showed me that type of tendency. He was never an angry person or violent person, so when I discovered he killed her, I was shocked.”
Admitting the incident was a shocking blow, she admitted to leaving the child in the house to get help from the police as she feared the suspect wanted to harm her too.
“I was in the station making the report at the time. When I left, she was on the bed watching her tablet. But he try to drag me into the room because he look like he was going to harm me. I called her to come but she not coming. She was laughing like she thought we were playing so I had no choice.”
Saying she anticipated the police would have responded sooner, Villaruel lamented the fact that she left her house to get help.
Fifth Street is approximately 400 metres away from the Arouca Police Station, which is located in Five Rivers Junction, and is walking distance away from the property.
Guardian Media was told the suspect recently began acting differently and speaking strange utterances.
Police reports indicate that Amarah’s mother arrived at the Arouca Police Station around 10.10 pm to lodge a report of domestic violence and begged for police intervention.
When officers subsequently went to Villaruel’s residence, it was locked up and in darkness. The officers called the suspect’s name several times and he emerged barebacked and wearing three-quarter pants.
The officers instructed the mother to carry out a welfare check for the child. When she entered the house, however, she screamed uncontrollably upon finding Amarah’s headless body.
A female officer then rushed into the house, where she found Amarah’s mutilated body.
A check showed the little girl was killed in one bedroom, after which her body was dragged into another bedroom, and her head was stashed in a barrel at the back of the house.
After learning of the horrifying crime, people at the scene expressed shock, noting that the suspect appeared calm and did not have any traces of blood on him.
The suspect was later arrested and taken to the police station for questioning, whilst the North Central Division Task Force performed a static guard at the residence until forensic officers returned to the scene yesterday morning.
In a voice note regarding the killing, Snr Supt of the North Central Division, Richard Smith, appealed to the public to seek help if they were in any distress in relationships.
“Please do not resort to violence to settle domestic issues. Seek professional help from the time the earliest signs of abuse appears,” Smith said.
“Do not use your young innocent children to settle your scores. This is a real case of the devastating impact of domestic abuse where an innocent child’s life was snuffed out.”
Guardian Media understands that counselling has been made available to Villaruel and other relatives, close friends and police officers who responded.