“Get out as soon as possible,” grieving sister encourages domestic violence victims

…after sister was axed to death by ex-partner

By Shemar Alleyne

Persons who have never been in an abusive relationship often struggle to understand why those who are being abused remain. This is according to Shannon Thomas, author of “Healing from Hidden Abuse” who said psychological abuse is insidious and occurs over time like an ivy drop of poison entering your veins. The author said it starts with an off-hand comment here or an insult there but often, victims brush these moments off.

Tiffany Speede thought the years of suffering her sister endured from an abuser had come to an end but she had no idea that her sister would have met her demise in such a brutal way, in the presence of her two children aged 17 and 11 and her two nieces aged 11 and three.
Natoya Speede, a mother of two, was killed on March 27, 2020, by her ex-partner, Orin King, as she was about to take her son for his birthday photo shoot.
After brutally killing his former paramour, King fled the scene and attempted suicide by using a knife to slash himself multiple times across his abdomen and left wrist.
Due to the severity of his injuries, he is presently hospitalised at the Bartica Hospital under Police guard.

“He collected his son for couple days for almost a week and he called that day and asked that they go for a driver so with that she thought that he had something to tell her so the afternoon when they were heading to the photo shoot she called her son to ask him to pick them up to take them to the photo shoot because she wanted to know what he wanted to talk about,” the grieving sister said.
According to the sister, “[Natoya] never thought that he would do something like that in front of the kids in the car.”
The aggravated sister explained that Speede lived with the suspect for a number of years in an abusive home but she moved out last July.
“She had moved on with her life and he got to find out that. He was always living with the hope that she might come back home with the kids to live with him but when he realised that wasn’t going to happen that is when he decided to do what he did I guess.”
The sister further added that “the reason why she got the courage to move out was because he beat up her 11-year-old son and she came and lived with me. He even went to the Welfare because she was keeping the kids away from him and when the kids speak out, the Welfare got to know the exact story and it was handed over to the police station and then he was in lock up for a day or two and then his sister called her [Natoya] and begged her to go to the station and [release] him.”
She described her sister as a cheerful, helpful woman of substance. “My sister was a very kind person. She is always good to people no matter how bad they did or how bad they do her. She was very loving and forgiving. I would describe her as a gem. She was a rare person, a very rare person, I can’t find nobody like her.”
The younger sister is hopeful that the family will get justice for her sister’s death. As she noted, getting over the death of her sister is already challenging and as such, the family will be planning a domestic violence awareness campaign in memory of her.
Given that her sister is just another person in a long list of statistics of domestic violence deaths in the country, she is urging both men and women to get out of any abusive relationship.
“The message I would like to tell young women or even men that are in an abusive relationship I urge them to get out as soon as possible. It does worth it and I know nobody knows, only you know feels it. Sometimes you wouldn’t get the support that you need from family to get to move on but bring it up to yourself. Think and know that you are worth way more and way better and get out as soon as possible. See a way as soon as possible and go far,” Tiffany noted.
From January to date, Guyana has recorded five domestic violence incidents, inclusive of Speede, which ended deadly.
These women are Imogeme Gordon, Natoya Speede, Somattie Keosoram, Bibi Sabeeda Ally and Priya Nandram.
Meanwhile, comparing statistics from the Social Protection Ministry during the same period last year, the Ministry recorded eight women being killed – six allegedly by their current or former partners.
Speaking on the issue, Founder of Women Against Domestic Violence, Ruth Johnson stated that staying in an abusive relationship for the sake of children does more harm than good and as such, made a special call for victims to reach out to someone they trust and get help.
She recognised that it would not be an easy task, but stated that victims should find persons who they trust and allow them to be a shield as they leave the abusive relationship.