Samantha Isaacs did everything she was supposed to do under the law to get protection from her ex-boyfriend, but this country’s criminal justice system failed her.
She had been subjected to months of stalking and threats by her abusive, jealous and possessive former partner, Kahriym Garcia. She had made numerous reports to the police and even tried to get a protection order.
Garcia had been physically and verbally abusive and after she ended the relationship, he threatened to kill her, throw acid in her face, and even said he would stick her with an Aids-infected needle.
However, all Isaacs’ attempts to get protection from her abuser as prescribed under the law were futile. She was ignored by the police and refused a protection order by a magistrate.
Six years ago, on December 16, 2017, Garcia made good on his threats and shot her several times then left her to die on a roadway in Carenage. Hours later, he took his own life.
These harrowing details were recounted in a lawsuit filed by Isaacs’ mother, Tot Lampkin, against the Office of the Attorney General over the murder of her daughter.
At the time of her death, Isaacs, a mother of one, was pursuing a degree in biochemistry at the University of the West Indies, St Augustine. But her efforts to seek a brighter future for herself and her young son ended violently because the criminal justice system fell short of its responsibilities to her by not responding to her many appeals for help.
Unfortunately, there are many other cases like Isaacs’ in this country, and that makes the 110-page judgment delivered by High Court Judge Robin Mohammed so significant in bringing attention to glaring deficiencies in the way domestic violence matters are handled.
In a landmark ruling handed down earlier this week, Justice Mohammed held that the rights of Isaacs, her mother and young son were infringed by the inaction of the police and the judiciary.
The onus is now on the state to do right by the countless women and girls who have suffered and died because of the egregious failures of its agents and servants and improve how domestic violence cases are handled.
The court’s ruling reinforces a UN Women study on gender-based violence in T&T, which found that many women feel they have nowhere to turn to be safe because they have experienced multiple intervention failures with social services, the police and the justice system.
There have been improvements since Isaacs’ murder. In 2020, the Domestic Violence Act was amended to expand key protections and the categories of people who can apply for protection orders and the T&T Police Service (TTPS) launched its Gender-Based Violence Unit (GBVU), which focuses heavily on domestic violence cases and breaches of restraining orders.
These initiatives are aimed at ensuring a higher degree of sensitivity, confidentiality and trust in the way such cases are handled.
But there are still too many instances where victims and their families claim police officers are either tardy in responding to their complaints, or ignore them altogether. There are also lingering concerns about the way protection orders are handled.
However, if this ruling paves the way for the police and officers of the court to enforce the laws with dispatch, shielding victims from perpetrators and saving lives, Samantha Isaacs’ brutal and untimely death would not have been in vain.
