…emotional witness recalls victim screaming for help
Nearly three years after Donessa Barker had met her demise allegedly at the hands of her husband, Miguel Barker, the trial of her husband for murder commenced in the High Court before Justice Navindra Singh on Monday.
Miguel Barker, also known as ‘Allan’, stands accused of stabbing his wife Donessa at the Bagotville, West Bank Demerara home they shared on the night of April 30, 2015.
Deceased: Donessa Barker
Donessa Barker, also called “Vanessa”, allegedly collapsed and died after being dealt several stabs about her body following an argument between the two. Miguel Barker has denied the State’s murder indictment.
Monday’s trial saw the State calling its first witness, Government Pathologist Dr Nehaul Singh, whose testimony was in relation to the injuries the woman had suffered. Donessa Barker’s cause of death was given as hemorrhage and shock due to stab wound.
Also testifying was Policeman Jemain Elcock, who was a detective at the time of Donessa Barker’s demise. He told the jury that he had chased and arrested Miguel Barker at ‘B’ Field Sophia, Greater Georgetown in May 2015. According to the Police witness, as the accused was being cautioned, he remarked: “Is not me; is me brother.”
“He was calm and not handcuffed,” Elcock observed.
Elcock maintained that Barker was not beaten when he was cross-examined by Defence Counsel Maxwell McKay. The constable, however, admitted that he could not recall the “B” Field Sophia address where he had arrested Barker, who was said to have fled after his wife’s killing.
Reports are that the Barkers were having marital troubles and would often argue. Javonna Frank, who lived a few houses from the murdered woman, recalled on the day of Donessa Barker’s demise that she and her step-sister Sheneeza Clarke were having a conversation when Clarke’s cellphone rang and she heard her call out for “Vanessa!”
An emotional Frank, who had bolted from the witness box when she first began testifying, was able to gather her composure and tell the court that she heard a rocking in the bushes several feet away from where they were. Later they heard Barker cry out: “Ya’ll help me! Ya’ll help me!”
Frank recalled that her step-sister Shaneeza had run into Vanessa’s room with a cutlass, and that Vanessa came out covered in blood. The witness disclosed that she does not know where her step-sister is located, as she has not seen her since the incident.
Another witness, who testified to the whereabouts of the missing Shaneeza, was West Demerara Regional Hospital (WDRH) matron Jevonne Dolphin, who was the late Donessa’s aunt. Dolphin recalled that her niece had last visited her on April 22, 2015 at her office, and that she appeared to be quite normal. The matron also witnessed the post- mortem examination on May 4, 2015.
Dolphin told the court in her evidence in chief that she knows Shaneeza Clarke, but does not know where she is. Cross-examination was declined by McKay.
Before Donessa Barker’s death, the couple had been married for more than a year. On the night of the incident, the Barkers were reportedly heard arguing prior to the stabbing. Reports are that neighbours had attempted to rescue the woman, and had rushed her to hospital after she had been stabbed. Prosecutors Tiffni Lyken, Abigail Gibbs and Narissa Leander are presenting the State’s case.
