The men lorded as heroes for rescuing a screaming woman from an open grave in the Tunapuna cemetery last week say they are not heroes because no such rescuing effort ever took place.
In telephone interview with the T&T Guardian yesterday, the men — Ricardo “Dudes” Alvarez and “Harold” — said what they saw in a newspaper article last week was not a true reflection of their input in a lovers’ squabble.
Alvarez said candidly: “I am no hero. I tell the man that when he come and take my picture (which appeared on the front page of another newspaper). The girl wasn’t in no grave. I even tell the police that. Right now I looking to get a lawyer to see what I could do.”
The gravedigger said he was not there to witness any confrontation between the alleged victim, Shevon Veris, and her supposed attacker.
According to the newspaper report last week, Veris claimed she was walking along Plumbago Avenue, La Horquetta, around 7.30 pm last Wednesday when she was grabbed from behind, blindfolded, lifted bodily and placed in a car.
In the vehicle, Veris was allegedly beaten by the man, whom she later recognised as a former boyfriend.
She was taken to the Tunapuna Public Cemetery where she was robbed, beaten and thrown into a grave. The man then fled when he saw a police car’s lights.
In response, the man told the T&T Guardian Veris came to see him willingly and the two began to argue and fight after he noticed she was chatting with another man on social platform, WhatsApp. After the fight he left leaving the woman there.
Contacted yesterday, “Harold” said: “I never assisted that woman. That story not true.”
Asked if he and Alvarez were just lying to protect their friend, Harold said he was not, adding he and the suspect are not friends and that he will not have any reason to lie for him.
Both men admitted to helping retrieve personal belongings of Veris that had been thrown into a nearby manhole.
Alvarez said: “It had no open grave in the cemetery and it was locked except for a small gate I does leave open to pass through. I normally does lock up the cemetery around 6 pm and I reach back around 8 pm.
“I don’t like what happened because if the girl did dead I might have been in trouble because I even tell the police I didn’t save nobody. I take out a few things that was in the drain and flag down a police jeep for she on the bus route.”
The suspect, who was wanted by the police, surrendered on Monday and was questioned for about six hours at the La Horquetta Police Station before he was released.
He maintained his story when contacted. The man’s girlfriend gave a statement to the police yesterday.
During a telephone interview with the T&T Guardian, Veris, who was reported to be two months pregnant, said she now just wanted to put everything behind her and focus on her sick, six-year-old daughter.
She maintained her version of events, adding she just wants the police to do their job so she can move on.
Asked about the differing stories concerning her police complaint, Veris said no one was there so they were not able to comment.
She added she has had a pounding headache since the incident and was feeling “terrible.”
She advised women to leave abusive relationships, adding for the nine months she was involved with the man he struck her twice before she decided to end the relationship.
“I just learn from my stupid mistake and I don’t hate the individual. I just don’t want anything to do with him,” Veris said, adding she was not pregnant.