Dad never showed violence to toddlers, says grieving mom

After taking the life of his two children and texting about it, Barry Karimath used two tie straps to choke himself to death. The first strap broke, but the second one allowed him to complete his task. Karimath’s autopsy yesterday revealed he placed the plastic straps around his neck and pulled until his brain was deprived of oxygen. In a telephone interview with the T&T Guardian, pathologist Dr Valery Alexandrov said the strap was still around the 33-year-old when he performed the autopsy. The official cause of death was asphyxiation. 

Karimath’s two children, ten-month-old Omari Mayers and his sister Keanna “Keke” Mayers, three, also died of asphyxiation. It was initially thought the children were poisoned. Alexandrov said he was still not certain of this as the stomach contents of the children still had to be sent for testing to determine if they were poisoned. He added that ingesting poisonous substance such as lanate could also result in asphyxiation. Speaking with the media at her Barataria home yesterday, the children’s mother, Okilia Mayers, said Karimath was not a violent person. 
“He was normal to me. He loved his children as far as I knew, because he was always so kind to them. So when he started sending the texts on Saturday, I didn't believe he would actually harm the children," Mayers said. 

The text messages read that he “deal with Bubba” and was about to “deal with Ke-Ke”. Another text message read that Mayers should not cry for him while another spoke of the young Keanna taking her last breath. "He was the jealous type. But his threats were always directed to me, never the children. I can say honest to God, I never expected him to do anything like this," she said. According to police reports, around 6 am on Sunday officers received a report that the three bodies were found near a bamboo patch next to a pumpkin farm in Matura. When police arrived, they found Karimath’s body and those of his two children. The farmer said around 9.30 pm Saturday night he went to his garden to spend the night and saw Karimath standing near the trace with his children. He said when he questioned Karimath he said had paid a woman $6,000 for a bush bath and was waiting for her.