Rio Claro mother of six Julie Parris endured years of abuse at the hands of her husband, Patrick Steve Parris, and last year she decided she had enough when she left him. However, little did she know it would lead to her brutal death months later.
On Monday, Parris, 43, was chopped to death by her estranged husband, who also savagely chopped his son Brian and his pregnant girlfriend, Lucy Farrier, at their Mahabalsingh Trace, Navet Village, Rio Claro, home.
The couple is warded in a stable condition at the Sangre Grande Hospital. Parris died on the spot and Patrick went into hiding after the attack. Yesterday, the 49-year-old Patrick was found hanging from a tree near his garden. Police said his 22-year-old son Kevon went to tend to his animals around 9.30 am and stumbled upon his father's body. One of Parris's relatives, who requested anonymity, said Parris did the "best thing."
"It is a sad day...I did not expect him to take his own life, but sometimes when you reach to that level it is the best thing. Some men doesn't want to make jail, jail ain't nice. This is better," the man said. Yesterday Parris's relatives were still struggling to come to terms with the killing.
His niece Jessica Lovelace, 19, said her aunt took out a restraining order against Patrick several months ago after he threatened to kill her. He then went to her home at El Guanapo Housing Development, Rio Claro, and smashed her windows. She said on Monday her aunt was on her way to a funeral in Mahabalsingh Trace when her son called her to his home and told her she was going to be a grandmother.
"It was her first grandchild," she said. Lovelace said Patrick came to the house at that point and an argument ensued. Patrick, she said, vowed to kill her and "so said, so done." She said he went into the house and returned with a cutlass and began chopping his wife. "Her son was chopped on the head, neck and back. He was trying to protect her. (Brian) try to breaks for his mother and when he breaks he get," she explained.
Parris's 12-year-old son, who was also at home at the time, tried to help his mother. "He see for himself he could not help, so he ran and he hide. He not talking now, he do not want to eat," Lovelace said. She said the family is still in shock over the murder. "We did not believe it when we heard about it. Words cannot express the feeling that we feeling right now. She is a big loss to our family," she said. Insp Fitzgerald George is investigating.
