"Marlon King deserve to hang for that. A poor innocent child, only four years old." That was the tearful response of Amy Emily Annamunthodo's grandmother, Chanardaye Basdeo, 64, minutes after King was found guilty of murdering the child and sentenced to death. Basdeo was at her Toradale Heights, Ste Madeleine, home where she is recovering from a stroke she suffered the day after she testified in King's trial. "Is everyday I crying for that child. She would have been nine years old now and she would be here with me," she said, wiping away tears. Amy's mother, Anita, who is Basdeo's youngest daughter, shared a common-law relationship with King for two-and-half-years before the child's murder. Amy was beaten to death on May 15, 2006. Anita, however, refused to comment on her former common-law husband being sentenced to hang for the murder of her only child.
When reporters went to her house in San Fernando, Anita refused to come out. She never attended the trial.
She was charged with six counts of child neglect after Amy's death but was freed in 2007. Basdeo said Amy was born premature and she took care of her. "Anita was only 15 years old. Is only when I get sick she gone back with her mother," she said, adding Anita was afraid of King. She said she did not know that Amy was being abused but knew the child had been afraid of King. She said Amy's death had taken a toll on her health. "I was bigger than this, look how small I get," she added. Recalling the last time she saw Amy alive, Basdeo said: "It was her birthday. My son bought snacks for her and she eat." She said King told a lot of lies but "God is love."
Attempts were made find Amy's father, Jason Walker, but he was not at home.
