Mary Africa is trying to come to terms with the death of Athlyn Davis, her 43-year-old daughter who was found dead inside her home on Thursday morning.
Her friends and family gathered outside her Creekside residence, as police officers combed the home and waited for the district doctor to pronounce her dead.
The woman had recently given birth to a baby girl who laid beside her on the bed where a family friend first discovered her body. The baby had been crying from the night before and no one had communicated with the mother since Wednesday afternoon. According to Ms. Africa, she had called on her many times but there was no answer and her door was locked.
“She does lock her door when she have the baby,” she said.
Those circumstances prompted Ms. Davis’ 13-year-old son to call the police in Grays Farm on Wednesday night, requesting assistance to remove the baby from the house.
“They said they didn’t have a female officer at the station,” Ms. Africa recalled them saying when she called a second time to find out what was taking them so long to arrive. Family members had been waiting on the main road up until 1a.m., hoping to spot the police and lead them to the area.
“Maybe if they had come that night she would still be alive,” her mother remarked.
Despite rumours, the family is not convinced that it was death by suicide, telling IPB that Ms. Davis had never expressed feelings of wanting to kill herself.
She is remembered as being very protective of her children, particularly when she went through mental episodes. Her mother said she became “triggered” at times and would not eat for days.
“Sometimes I will grab something for her to eat because I know she sleeps long with the medication,” her mother said.
She was being treated with medication but had to stop taking them when she became pregnant and had to subsequently breast feed. That was until Monday afternoon when Ms. Africa said her daughter became disturbed by remarks someone made to her on her way home.
That night, she was escorted by police to the Clarevue Psychiatric Hospital. But the hospital did not keep her since she needed to be assessed by a doctor before getting back on medication. On Tuesday morning, she was given her first shot of medication and was to return every day until she had taken seven shots, her mother said.
Caring more about the health of her baby who was running low on formula, Ms. Davis was not able to visit the hospital to take her medication the following day. Instead, after going shopping for groceries, she took her baby from her mother and went home, just next door.
According to Ms. Africa, she would take formula to Ms. Davis’ house for her grandchild every two hours. “I would pass the formula through the window because she does lock the door when she have the baby,” she told IPB.
Directly adjacent to Ms. Davis, lives her father who is bed ridden and suffering from cancer. Friends and family surrounded his home too, as they were left speechless by Ms. Davis’ death.
The father of child is currently abroad working and was planning to visit Antigua for the baby’s christening.
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