By Bibi Khatoon
Relatives of a 56-year-old man are blaming the police for his death as they recounted several instances in the past where his reputed wife attempted to kill him.
Thirty-six-year-old Jewel Coats, called “Coolie Girl” resided with Christopher Bramble, called Harry, for the past five years. The man did odd jobs around the community to earn a living while Coats is unemployed.
However, as neighbours recall, those five years were marred by constant fighting between the two and several attempts of murder. They also noted that both Bramble and Coats abused alcohol.
“Every minute they got to call you for something saying ‘Harry and Coolie Girl again, Harry and Coolie Girl fight.’
“So we got to come and rush he to the hospital. By the time he reach back home, they fighting again,” Elizabeth Wilson, the man’s niece, told the News Room at the scene of the incident on Monday morning.
She added that the two would even end up in the drain a short distance from the home during their fights but if anyone intervened, “he want cuss and go on and on.”
This account was sanctioned by neighbours who said they’ve had sleepless nights as a result of the fighting by the couple.
Viola Williams, who resides next door, claimed the woman’s actions were premeditated.
“I know from all day yesterday (Sunday) she was threatening to burn the house and murder him. My big daughter had to ask her ‘when you burn the house down, where would you go?’ and she said ‘I got place to go,’” the woman told News Room.
Williams recalled that the last thing she heard before falling asleep on Sunday night was the woman saying she would murder her husband.
Williams said she was awakened by her daughter around midnight, alerting her to the fire next door.
According to the police, the fire began at about 00:15hrs.
Shortly after rushing out of her home, Williams said she noticed “Coolie Girl” being pulled from the flaming building by persons from the community who rushed to the scene.
They were forced to break into the house to rescue her since the door was locked. It is alleged that the woman stabbed her reputed husband and then locked the door with both of them inside.
At the time of her rescue, Coats was covered in blood.
She was asked about the whereabouts of her husband and she claimed he was not in the house.
Before anyone realized that the man was trapped inside, the one-flat wooden home was already engulfed.
Coats attempted to flee the scene but was restrained by males in the area who noticed her.
The neighbour explained that in January of this year, Coats attempted to slit Harry’s throat but luckily, the wound was not as deep. The man was removed from the scene by the Guyana Fire Service (GFS) which is located a short distance away and rushed to the Georgetown Public Hospital.
“Like he don’t want to lock her up, I don’t know why.
“Like he never want to go to the station; he never want she get lock up and them kind of thing.
“Even his daughter took him and he go and beg for she and she come out,” Williams said.
Williams added that up to last week, Coats broke out a wall from the house and threw out several items from the home.
The deceased’s brother Junior Bramble is calling for justice.
“She murdered my brother; she juck he up and then light a fire inside the house because her skin was filled with blood.
“Whole day she said she gon kill he and burn the house,” he said as he struggled to control his emotions.
However, he is blaming the police’s inaction for the death of his brother.
Junior said: “Several times I go the Police Station, made several reports but the Police ain’t coming.
“She cut he throat, Police ain’t coming. She cut he neck, Police ain’t coming. She buss he head, Police ain’t coming.”
“Now the police coming and the media, when people dead,” he added.
Coats have had a run-in with the law previously.
In October 2016, she was remanded to prison for ‘willfully contributing to her child being in need of protective intervention.’
Coats appeared before Magistrate Faith McGusty at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court after her daughter, who was 3-weeks-old at the time, was allegedly dragged under a minibus by a dog.
Coats told the court that she did not want the infant anymore and requested that the father keep the child away from her.
The child, News Room was told, is currently residing with an aunt.
