Baby Khristha Knutt’s mother, Tiffany Rawlins, was released from police custody on Thursday night, but did not attend her daughter’s funeral yesterday.
She was not mentioned except during angry outbursts by relatives and friends.
Khristha, who would have turned two in January, was struck on the head and electrocuted, in what police described as a botched attempt to resuscitate her, after she was found unresponsive by relatives on Monday.
Khristha’s mother along with her boyfriend, a 32-year-old Coast Guard officer, and two relatives were detained by police.
The Coast Guard officer up until late yesterday evening remained in police custody and is represented by attorney Israel Khan, SC.
An autopsy by forensic pathologist Dr Hughvon Des Vignes revealed the toddler died from head injuries and electrocution.
While the two relatives were released, one on Tuesday and the other on Thursday, Rawlins’ attorney Fareed Ali served a writ of habeas corpus on the Office of the Commissioner of Police and the Office of the Attorney General, challenging the continued detention of his client.
Ali said the mother of the child had been unlawfully and wrongfully kept against her will without any reasonable or probable cause and added that she should be immediately released.
He raised concerns that Rawlins would miss her daughter’s funeral.
Despite being released at around 9 pm on Thursday night, Rawlins, who spent five days in police custody, was not seen at Saint Rose Funeral Services Chapel in Tunapuna.
Instead, Khristha’s father, Ernest Knutt, cried inconsolably and had to leave the chapel during emotional outbursts, returning moments later.
Pastor Brian Hutchinson, a close friend of Khristha’s father, who presided over the funeral service, asked the mourners to show support.
He called on anyone wishing to show support for Knutt and his family to say a few words.
Friends and relatives spoke about a sweet and smart child who was loved by her father and by all the people she came in contact with.
Relatives spoke about asking for custody of the child, who died just over a month before her second birthday, and made curious references to her well-being while alive.
Hutchinson said he was certain that there were questions which needed to be answered but asked the mourners to leave it up to God.
“Leave everything in God’s hands. What has to be worked out will be worked out. There is a saying what in the dark must come to light. You can run but you cannot hide.”
He advised the relatives to reflect on happier days with the toddler.
“In God’s timing you will be vindicated. He is still well able to make wrongs right.”
Knutt’s mother, Desiree, was the second to have a loud, tearful outburst.
“I told Tiffany to give me the child and if she had done that then today the child would not be dead.
“I begged her and she never gave me the child. I begged her. I beg and I beg,” she said.
Kristha’s maternal grandmother, Marlene Rawlins, was one of the many people who called for justice following the child’s death.
Several other relatives expressed similar sentiments, claiming that they had asked to be given the child but were ignored.
Many seemed to view the child’s death as avoidable and the chapel was filled with an underlying tension.
Police are still investigating the circumstances surrounding the toddler’s death.