By FRANCIS JOSEPH
A woman whose daughter was murdered by her ex-boyfriend in 2017, has been awarded more than $2,641,609 by the High Court.
Justice Robin Mohammed ordered the Attorney General to pay the following to Tot Lampkin:
[a] Compensatory Damages:
(i) Loss of Earnings for Lost Years in respect of the breaches of Samantha Stacey Isaacs’ constitutional rights guaranteed under Section 4(a) and 4(b) of the Constitution in the sum of $960,000.
(ii) Non-Pecuniary Loss in respect of the breaches of Samantha Stacey Isaacs’ constitutional rights guaranteed under Section 4(a) and 4(b) of the Constitution in the sum of $450,000 which includes an uplift for Aggravated Damages.
(iii) Non-Pecuniary Loss in respect of the breaches of Tot Lampkin and Kaiden Garcia’s constitutional rights guaranteed under Section 4(c) of the Constitution in the sum of $600,000.
[b] Vindicatory Damages as a mean of emphasizing the importance of the constitutional rights, the gravity of the respective breaches and promoting the deterrence of further breaches, in the sum of $500,000.
2. The AG shall pay to Lampkin pre-judgment interest on the Non-Pecuniary Losses in the sum of $131,609.58.
* Costs for senior and junior counsel.
Douglas Mendes S.C, and Clay Hackett appeared for Lampkin, while Tinuke Gibbons-Glen represented the AG
THE CASE
Justice Mohammed, in his 53-page judgment, observed the following facts:
The fatal outcome followed a harrowing history of abuse suffered by Samantha at the hands of Kahriym Garcia and the inexcusable omissions to act by agents of the State. Namely:
(i) the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service’s failure to investigate the first three police reports lodged by Samantha;
(ii) while superficially reasonable, the TTPS’ deficient/perfunctory treatment of Samantha’s fourth and final police report prior to her death;
(iii) the TTPS’ failure to initiate prosecutions against Kahriym, notwithstanding Samantha’s evidently worrisome police reports detailing Kahriym’s compulsively violent conduct;
(iv) the learned Magistrate’s premature and arbitrary dismissal of Samantha’s application for a Protection Order, were all material contributors to Samantha’s untimely demise.
On the 16th of May, 2024, Justice Mohammed delivered judgment on liability in the instant matter. Ruling in favour of Lampkin, the judge made several declarations and adjourned for the assessment of damages.
In her affidavit, Lampkin said her daughter Samantha, 26, was the primary caregiver of her son, Kaiden Garcia until her death on the 16th of December 2017. She said Samantha took care of Kaiden’s every need and was solely responsible for purchasing his food, clothes and for his medical bills. She balanced her maternal responsibilities with her full-time employment with Digicel.
Samantha’s last salary was the sum of $8,000 per month, she being a Customer Engagement Executive. Following Samantha’s death, Lampkin became Kaiden’s sole and primary caregiver, solely responsible for his day-to-day care and upbringing.
On the 9th of January, 2018, Lampkin applied to the Family Court for the custody, care and control of Kaiden. She was directed by Master Carl Quamina to attend counselling sessions with Kaiden at Dolly and Associates.
At the time, she understood that they were being referred to counselling sessions as part of the process for assessing her suitability to have care and custody of Kaiden. At the time of Samantha’s death, Kaiden was three years old. Lampkin said she too was deeply depressed and inconsolable by Samantha’s heinous murder, as well as particularly devastated by what she described as the failure of the relevant arms of the State, namely, the TTPS and the Judiciary, to take steps to protect Samantha.
Samantha was shot dead by Kahriym Garcia, 31, on December 16, 2017, and left on the roadway in Carenage. Garcia then shot and killed himself when police confronted him hours after.
