A night drive to beach ends in death
Quinam Beach: how dID mom of 7 DROWN?
Mother of seven Sandy Mohammed left her children behind and went on a night drive to the beach on Wednesday with a man with whom she had once shared a relationship.
She never made it back home alive.
The 37-year-old woman was found floating on the surface of the water at Quinam Beach, Penal, around 7.35 p.m.
A police report stated that Mohammed, a geriatric nurse, of Goodwill Road, Ocean Park, Chaguanas, went to the beach with her former boyfriend around 6.55 p.m.
The 36-year-old Sangre Grande man told police he and Mohammed were sitting on rocks on the beach, then they entered the water.
He said they were bathing in about chest-high water when he left her and went swimming further.
The man told police when he returned to the area where he had left Mohammed, he was unable to find her. He called out to her and when there was no response, he came out of the water and got a flashlight, then returned to the water to search for her. When he found her, she was floating on the surface of the water.
The man said he pulled Mohammed out to the shore, and tried cardio-pulmonary resuscitation (CPR), but she could not be revived. He then sought help at a nearby security office, and the Siparia Police officers were alerted.
Mohammed was pronounced dead at the scene by a district medical officer.
Is it really an accidental drowning?
Mohammed’s children were informed of her death around midnight.
Her 18-year-old daughter, Emily Phillip, said she and her siblings went to the San Fernando mortuary around 3 a.m., seeking information on their mother’s death.
Phillip, Mohammed’s third child, said she was not convinced that her mother’s death was an accident, and called on the Police Service to thoroughly investigate the incident.
Phillip said, “My mother was not living with that man. They were in a relationship and they broke up, but they have two children together and my mother kept in contact with him because she wanted to be close to her children.
“After they broke up five months ago, he took the children, ages six and two, with him. My mother was being threatened and she did not make police reports because she did not want her children to be kept away from her.”
Mohammed had two sons from her first marriage, ages 22 and 21. She then had three children from a second relationship, ages 18, 17 and 12.
Following the death of her second husband, Mohammed was involved with another man and had two children, ages six and two. That relationship ended in July.
Phillip said her mother went to Chaguanas on Wednesday, where she bought Christmas presents for the children. She returned home with the man, picked up a blanket, and left again around 5 p.m.
“I asked where she was going, and she said she going for a drive. Then she told me I should call her and make sure she was safe.
“I thought that was strange. But we went to bed, and then we got a call in the night that she drowned. We do not believe it is accidental,” she said.
Phillip said she tried contacting the man who was with her mother when she drowned, but he did not speak with her.
“He did not answer. A relative told us that my mother was messaging him yesterday to go to the beach. He did not visit us. We want to know what happened. My mother likes the beach, but she doesn’t really go in the water. She cannot swim,” she said.
Hard-working mom
Phillip said her mother was hard-working and provided for all her children.
She said Mohammed was expected to go to work yesterday.
“She works very hard, day and night. She is a caregiver and works privately, not for a company. She would not stay out late when she had to work the next day, so that was unusual,” she said.
Phillip said her mother’s earrings and chain were given to the family at the mortuary. Her cellphone and purse were not found.
“We need the phone so we can prove that she was being threatened. The police needs to investigate,” she said.
Phillip said her mother was looking forward to spending the Christmas holidays with her children.
“She did all her shopping and bought her gifts. Now, we lost our mother and we don’t now what happened.
“Just both of them know what happened, and my mother is dead,” she said.
Insp Ramlogan, PCs Singh and Gellizeau and other officers of the Siparia charge room and CID responded.
The body was examined by a district medical officer, and officers were told there were no visible marks of violence.
The body was removed to the San Fernando mortuary, pending a post mortem at the Forensic Science Centre, Federation Park.
By Carolyn Kissoon Author email
