Nevis' tranquility was shattered last week when 2 year-old Shermelle Williams-Phillip was found dead in her car, the victim of an apparent murder. The plot thickened after police arrested and charged the victim's husband Warrington Phillip with her murder.
Phillip was taken into custody just hours after Shermelle's body was discovered, when a doctor at the Alexandra Hospital alerted police to his presence there. The Jessup's Village man was formally charged five days after his Feb. 16 detention when he said to be 'assisting police with the investigation'.
A police official said that a friend of Phillip's had taken him to the hospital after he appeared to have 'flipped out' or fainted. No explanation was given as the time as to what might have caused Phillip's condition.
Shermelle's mother said she knew who had killed her first-born child but would leave the person to God.
"I received a call from Mrs. Fahie that night and she said that I should come to the house because something had happened to Shermelle. While on my way to the house someone else called and asked if I had heard anything else. They said police and a lot of people where at the house. As soon as I got there and saw the crowd and the police but no ambulance, I knew my daughter was dead," the grieving mother told The Observer.
The assault appeared to have happened in Shermelle's car while she was still in the driveway of her home, which happens to be directly opposite former Commissioner of Police Calvin Fahie's residence in Brown Hill. She was reportedly on her way to a dinner party.
A passer-by had discovered the young woman's body after he noticed her car lights where on and went to check to see if she needed some form of assistance. The man fled to the former cop's house after seeing Shermelle's bloodied body slumped between the driver's seat nd the back seat. Fahie rushed over to his neighbor's aid, only to realize that the young woman was already dead.
Shermelle's father, popular calypsonian Keith "King Dis N' Dat' Scarborough said from the time he got to the scene he knew who had killed his child. Scarborough spoke of seeing a familiar item of clothing lying near to the car; a hat he presumed had fallen from Shermelle's killer as the women struggled with her assailant.
"The instant I heard that Shermelle was killed, there was no doubt in my mind as to who could have done it. Everyone who heard about it said that same thing, it had to be that person. I saw a hat near the car that night and I knew who the owner was, that made me even more sure of who did it," Scarborough said.
The last straw, he claimed, had come when Shermelle saw Phillip sharpening a cutlass while muttering that he 'had to kill her'. Scarborough said he had pleaded with police countless time to 'lock him up'.
Both of Shermell's parents said they were never happy about her four year marriage to Phillip and had repeatedly told their daughter to stay clear of her estranged husband.
According to family members, the relationship was one of repeated physical and emotional abuse which had caused Shermelle to flee from their Jessup's home and return to the Brown Hill house they had once shared. While there, they claim Phillip tormented her by repeatedly entering the house and removing her furniture and belongings. It was claimed he had threatened to kill her and dump her body in the sea on a numerous occasions and had even flushed his wedding ring down the toilet and burned all pictures of the couple. Scarborough said that after Shermelle had replaced her furniture, Phillip once again took her fridge, gas tank, bed and the very clothesline that hung outside; even then he said the items were replaced and Shermelle tried to go on with her life.
Scarborough alleged that on several different occasions throughout the tumultuous marriage, police had been summoned after Phillip had battered his wife.
"I only found out how he beat her long after things had happened. She kept it hidden from me, close as we were, Her husband seemed jealous of her relationships with me because we went everywhere together. He got upset that the girl joined her choice choir. After I knew what was really going on she used to call and complain to me all the time. All I could do was tell her to leave. She finally got the courage to run but went back with him on the advice of her pastor. He was the one who left the house last October," the outraged father said.
Her mother too recalled incidents when Shermelle had to ask her for assistance in getting dressed after being injured by Phillip. Recounting how Phillip had attempted to court Shermelle when she was just seventeen, her mother said she had warned her daughter that did not have good intentions if he could "trouble" a minor. At seventeen, she had begun an affair with the then 29-year-old Phillip; a relationship that she kept secret from her confidant, her best friend, her mother.
The Observer contacted Superintendent Joseph Liburd who confirmed at least one report that the police had received from the decedent.
"There was a report made by the young lady last July that her life had been threatened by her husband. She indicated that she wished to move out of the house they shared in Jessup's Police responded and investigated the matter after which, they assisted Mrs. Phillip is getting her belongings out of the house safely. At the time, her husband was not present," Liburd said.
He said that prior to being arrested for murder, Phillip had no criminal record on the island of Nevis.
On Wednesday, police and family members of the slain woman entered the house at the murder scene. It appeared that no evidence was collected as the family was allowed to remove some of Shermelle's personal items including her photo albums that depicted her in happier times.
Inspector Hilroy Brandy of the Criminal Investigation Department in Nevis said that the investigation into the murder was ongoing even though a charge had been laid. He alluded that Phillip became a person of interest immediately following the crime due to 'information' gathered.
"The young woman was pronounced dead at the scene and taken directly to the morgue. Officers processed the crime scene, removed evidence and proceeded to conduct their investigation immediately. the car in which the victim was found has been impounded for processing as well. We did not charge the suspect until the postmortem was complete. According to Dr. Stephen Jones, a forensic pathologist from Barbados, death was due to hemorrhage and shock resulting from stab wounds to the neck," Brandy outlined.
The officer said he could not speculate as to what the motive was for the crime, but said it was particularly brutal. The body, he said, had stab wounds to the right side of the neck, head, shoulder and left hand. He said it appeared that the woman had tried to shield herself from the onslaught of stabs aimed at her head and neck.
The incident took place between 7:30 and 8 pm yet no one has been able to confirm the existence of any eyewitnesses. The father said persons who were driving by while the savagery was in progress said Shermelle was trying to draw attention to what was happening by flashing her lights. Sadly, he said, no one realized the brevity of her actions until it was too late.
Phillip was transported to Her Majesty's Prison in St. Kitts where he joined has half-brother, Che Gregory "Duck Foot" Spencer as they both await trial for murder.
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