The body of a teenager was on Tuesday morning discovered in a trench aback the Kuru Kururu Soesdyke/Linden Highway with several marks of violence.
The gruesome discovery of Rovena Cozier, 16, of Lot 717 Obama Street, Kuru Kururu, Soesdyke/Linden Highway, was made by her mother and sister about 06:30h, lying face down in the black water.
After being pulled from the trench, it was discovered that the teenager sustained a gash to her throat and a cut to her right wrist.
Several pieces of her personal belongings, along with a blood- stained knife suspected to be the murder weapon were found in a track leading to the trench.
Suspect
The main suspect, Leo Rodrigues has since committed suicide. He was found hanging in his family’s backyard in Suddie by his mother, police confirmed. Rodrigues is said to be 28 years old and a father of one. He and Cozier were due to tie the knot in August.
At the home of the dead teenager, her mother Shiveon Cozier explained that her daughter and Rodrigues left home about 18:00h on Monday evening with the intention of going to a nearby shop.
She said after time elapsed, she made contact with her daughter who promised to return shortly, but this never happened.
The aggrieved mother went on to say that she started to get an uneasy feeling and as she looked through the door, she saw her neighbour’s son, who informed her that he left the couple at the shop. “He tell me that they offer he a drink but he refused and come home… so I went back inside,” she explained.
After time went by, she said that she took a shower and about 21:00h, she went in search of the couple, but there were no signs of them and, thinking that they probably went for a moonlight walk, she went home. About 22:30h, the woman stated that she went to bed but up to that time, they had not returned home.
“I wake up like 02:00h and look outside to see if I see their footwear but there was none so I know that they did not come back home up to that time,” she said.
According to her, this was the first time that the couple went out for such a long time. The mother said she went back to bed but her husband woke her up about 04:00h to enquire whether the teenager and her boyfriend had returned.
Search
He asked her to make a check in the girl’s room, and when she did, it was empty.
“I start to row… I start saying if they know de going out, then they shoulda call and say something… we nah know who to contact since he got family in Diamond, Timehri and Soesdyke… I say when the place get bright, I will go look for them,” he said.
As the place got brighter, the woman and one of her daughters went in search of the couple.
The woman explained that as they reached a distance, she saw a taxi heading in their direction and thought that it might be them, but instead, the car turned around.
“I get a strange feeling so I told meh daughter, ‘let we go in the direction of the trench’…. As we reach closer, meh daughter ask me what they go do at behind there… but I tell she, let we go… When I walk, I see meh slippers, the one she left home with… we went lil more and we see she top… meh she oh God, is what he do with meh daughter… meh daughter went up lil bit more and see a knife with blood and she start scream that something terrible wrang with Rovena,” the mother said.
Floating body
She said she immediately sent for her husband and upon arrival, he recognised his daughter’s body floating in the trench.
The teen’s mother said that Rodrigues only came out of the interior a while ago and she was not aware of any misunderstanding between her daughter and Rodrigues.
She recalled them going to Georgetown on Monday and after they returned home in the afternoon, they showered and went to the shop.
They were acting normal and if they had a problem, they did not make it noticeable. She could not say if there was any reason the man would want her daughter dead.
The mother said they subsequently made contact with the suspect’s personal driver who claimed that as he was dropping him off at Diamond, East Bank Demerara on Monday evening, he was indeed acting in a strange manner.
Relationship
“The taxi driver tell we that as he was heading to Diamond, he wanted something to drink but after the driver suggested that they stop at the Kozy Nook, he said he didn’t want to go in the light… so it had to be that he had blood on he skin and he didn’t want anyone see him,” she said.
The suspect and the now dead teen have been together for the past two years. He reportedly encouraged her to leave school.
Guyana Times International understands that the teen’s parents did not agree with the relationship, but the teenager threatened to commit suicide if they objected.
The teenager attended the Kuru Kururu Primary School and dropped out while she was in third form at the Supply Primary School.
Her body was taken to Lyken’s Funeral Home awaiting a post-mortem examination. She leaves to mourn her parents and four siblings.
