Buxton murder/suicide
Toddler on the road to recovery; parents to be buried tomorrow
Guyana Chronicle
May 23, 2004
LITTLE Enkofi Simon who was left locked in a bedroom for an estimated three days, while his parents' bodies rotted in the other room, is on the road to recovery in the pediatric ward of the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC).
Speaking to the Chronicle yesterday, his grandfather James Jones said that he is eating much better and has "found his voice".
"When I visited him yesterday morning (Friday) he was not speaking, but when I went back in the afternoon, he was saying `da da'".
Jones told this newspaper that the 15-month-old boy was in a stable condition and his normal eating habits had returned.
The orphan was admitted to the GPHC on Friday to be treated for dehydration after being locked in the house without food for such a long period.
The bodies of Enkofi's parents, William Simon and Luana Cromwell were found in a state of decomposition in a bedroom in their Lot 8 Middle Walk, Buxton, East Coast Demerara (ECD) home around 6:00 hrs on Friday.
Cromwell, 23 and Simon 25, died in what appears to be a murder/suicide.
According to reports, the couple seemed to have been electrocuted, since an electric wire running from a fuse box was attached to the woman's body, which bore burn marks.
Electric wire was also found around her neck and the room was soaked with water.
The couple's relationship was described as a rocky one and according to a press release from the Police Public Relations Office on Friday, there was a history of domestic violence.
The gruesome discovery was made after an uncle of Cromwell and his friend decided to break open the door since residents began complaining about the stench coming from the house.
The young woman's relatives had also become concerned about her whereabouts, since she had not been seen for days and her place of employment kept calling to find out why she was not reporting for duty.
Relatives on Friday said that they had repeatedly told the young woman to terminate the common-law relationship since Simon was in the habit of abusing her and threatening to take her life. However their calls went unheeded.
Yesterday, Cromwell's stepfather said that the post-mortem is expected to be performed tomorrow morning and burial would take place the same afternoon because of the decomposed state of the bodies. (Shawnel Cudjoe)