Chopping death of woman leaves community uneasy

The chopping death of 26-year-old Sherol Lenteria Phyllis Knights of Dorsetshire Hill, has left several persons in the close-knit community nervous of strangers.

Knights was hacked to death in the home she shared with her father.

A report from the Royal St Vincent and the Grenadines Police Force (RSVGPF), said Knights’s death was as a result of a “chopping incident” that occurred at around 12:15 a.m. on Monday, July 10.

“Preliminary information indicates that Knights was discovered lying motionless in the family home by a relative with what appeared to be chop wounds on her body. The police visited the scene and commenced an investigation. The District Medical Officer pronounced Knights deceased at the scene,” the police report said.

On Thursday, SEARCHLIGHT visited the community and spoke to persons who knew Knights. One woman, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Knights returned from university in Jamaica a few months ago and did not have a job.

She said the young woman was reserved, and not someone you would see hanging around on the block or at bars in the area.

“This is very troubling to us because we are a close knit community; we are all like family here and for this to happen for a second time this year is very bad to us.

Knights is the second woman to die violently in the Dorsetshire Hill community for 2023. Her death brought to mind the shooting of 28-year-old Pearlinea “Sunshine” Greaves who died three days after being shot at Dorsetshire Hill, around 8:30 p.m. on Thursday, February 9, 2023.

A man is currently on remand awaiting trial for Greaves’s killing.

“We know that these things are not being done by anyone from up here, so when we see strangers in the area we are … very sceptical and anxious,” the woman told SEARCHLIGHT.

She said she works in the area and is able to see the house where Knights was killed and that makes it worse for her.

“From what we are hearing it seems as if she was chopped up really bad,” the woman said, while noting that a lot of rumours are making the rounds including one about an ex-boyfriend.

A man from the area who also did not want to be identified said Knights kept to herself and did not socialize. He too said he has heard rumours along the line of an ex-boyfriend and noted that people in the area are angry about the two killings in one year.

The young woman’s father, Errol Knights, was not available for a comment. A friend who was looking out for the bereaved father told SEARCHLIGHT he (the father) was not in a frame of mind to talk about what happened.

The police say an autopsy is expected to be carried out on Knights’s body to ascertain the exact cause of death.

They are asking anyone with information that can assist them with this investigation to call 999/911 or, the Officer in charge of the Criminal Investigations Department at telephone number: 1-784-456-1810 or, any police station or police officer with whom you are comfortable speaking.

The police have also promised that all information received would be treated confidentially.