Another baby lost ;
http://www.trinidadexpress.com/20161130 ... ing-abused“I'm sorry!”
Those were the words whispered by Robert Figaro, the father of four-year-old Jenice Figaro who was beaten to death last week Thursday.
“I feel like disappearing” he said.
Police were initially told that his child died after eating a meal of French fries. It turned out she died from a beating to the head and body.
Figaro said he never suspected that his daughter was being abused by the woman he brought into their lives a year ago.
He admitted that there were bruises on his child's body, but he was told that Jenice was accident prone and would frequently fall and hurt herself.
The pre-school pupil died at the San Fernando General Hospital last week Thursday. Police were told that she ate a meal of French fries and began complaining of stomach pains.
But an autopsy performed by pathologist Dr Eslyn McDonald-Burris yesterday found that the child died from blunt force trauma to the head and abdomen.
Figaro, 36, said he was now putting the pieces together and he believes that Jenice was being abused for months.
“I am still in disbelief. I never thought anyone had that kind of malice for my daughter. When that woman came here with her kids I treated them like my own children. I am a casual worker so whenever I get work I would go because I wanted to provide for my family,” he said.
Figaro admitted that he would often notice bruises on Jenice's body when he returned from work. “My girlfriend would tell me that Jenice fell and hurt herself. I would call Jenice in the room alone and ask her what happened. She would say the same thing. I would ask if she was sure and she would say yes. I did not think my child was being abused,” he cried.
But Figaro is now convinced that Jenice was being threatened to remain silent.
Two months ago, Figaro said, he returned home from work and his daughter's arm was broken. He was told that Jenice fell while playing on his exercise equipment.
“I called Jenice and asked her and she said the same thing, so I believed her. I now think she was afraid to talk,” he said.
Figaro said his daughter was everything to him, as her mother left when she was 10 months old. He said his lifestyle changed when Jenice was born and she has since had him “anchored”.
And he was left feeling empty, sad and outraged.
Figaro said, “I feel like disappearing. The only thing that is keeping me from doing something to myself is the fact that I would not see my child again. I have not been in the house since she died. I can't go there. I am staying with my parents. I never make joke with my child. When I was not working she was always in my eyesight. She make me turn my life around.”
Figaro said she ate some fries and left his Coosal Road, Whiteland home to go to an automated teller machine to check his bank balance when he received a call that his daughter was not feeling well.
He was told that the child ate some fries and complained of stomach pains. He was also told that Jenice suffered a seizure and was unconscious.
Jenice was taken to the San Fernando General Hospital in an ambulance, where she died at around 11.50pm.
Figaro recalled, “I was hugging my daughter and grieving for her when my girlfriend called me. She said she pack up her things and was going by her mother. I was a little suspicious when she said that,” he said.
The next day, he said, police officers visited his home and conducted investigations.
But officers were unable to determine whether Jenice's death was a homicide as no autopsy was performed on her body on Friday.
The Forensic Science Centre is not staffed on the weekends, and it was not open on Monday as a result of the local government election.
Figaro said, “I gave the police all the information about the woman, where she would be staying and everything. I called them this morning and she was not yet arrested. I hope the police do their job and arrested the person who killed my child.”
Investigators said a suspect is expected to be taken into custody today, in connection with Jenice's death.
Little Jenice would be laid to rest at the Whiteland public cemetery following a service at her grandparents' home tomorrow.
