6-year-old daughter witnessed father stabbing mom – victim’s brother recalls

Victoria murder

Family members are still reeling after the horrid Sunday morning murder which claimed the life of a young mother of three at Victoria Village on the East Coast of Demerara (ECD).

While it was a tale of abuse dating back years ago, her six-year-old daughter was unfortunately left to witness her mother taking her last few breaths.
Shamaine Frank, 27, who resided at Lot 317 Victoria Village, was brutally stabbed to death by the father of her children in the wee hours of Sunday.
The woman’s brother, Junior Frank, detailed that he was always protective of his sister and had restricted her estranged lover from visiting.
However, the woman would rekindle her relationship with the suspect because of their three children. Only a few months ago, the now dead woman moved out of the family’s home to live with the suspect in Mon Repos, ECD, but after continued abuse, she returned home.
On that fateful Sunday morning, the victim’s brother recalled that the suspect, identified as 36-year-old Clive Wilson, visited the house.
Junior told Guyana Times that he instructed the man to leave. Thinking that he left the area, he was awakened from his slumber by the wailing screams of his sister crying for help.
“I had to ban him from the yard. When I come home the night, I drop to sleep in the chair and I see somebody hovering over me and it was he. We had a little talk and I put him out the yard. Because it was dark, I didn’t get to see which direction he went. After that, I went inside and bolt the door and went to bed. About half-hour after, I hear she shouting for me,” the younger brother remembered.
By that time, his sister was already stabbed twice to her chest and abdomen. She was lying on the ground but her lover had vanished without a trace, possibly through a backdoor which was left open.
The man had stealthily entered the house by removing a few louvre panes from a window at the back of the house.
Their eldest child, who is six years of age, confided in relatives that she was awakened by her father during the ordeal and threatened not to utter a word. If she did, he would also kill her.
Meanwhile, the woman was taken to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) where she was pronounced dead on arrival. By that time, the community had already gotten wind of what had transpired and patrol units were dashing through the streets in search of the murderer.
Initial reports had indicated that tensions between the couple impact the children and as such, the Welfare Department of the Social Protection Ministry was called in. The couple was instructed to seek counselling in order to reconcile their relationship but the abuse continued. For now, the children, aged six, three and two, have been residing with relatives. The police continue their hunt for the suspect, who is suspected to have returned to the interior of Guyana where he works. (Rupa Seenaraine)