Frances Daniel won a court ruling over the State’s failure to properly investigate her son’s death in police custody. But she says the EC$75,000 awarded to her has still not arrived—and neither have the answers she has spent more than 12 years seeking.
“The $75,000 they said they gave me, everybody think I have money already and I don’t have nothing,” Daniel said.
Her son, 22-year-old Chakadan Daniel, died at the Micoud Police Station on October 23, 2013. A Coroner’s Inquest returned a verdict of unlawful killing in 2015, but no criminal prosecution has followed.
Now, as Daniel seeks payment of the court award, the State is challenging aspects of the judgment, including an order to complete the investigation within six months.
In his July 29 ruling, Justice Alvin Shiva Pariagsingh found that the State violated Frances Daniel’s constitutional right to the protection of the law by failing to conduct and complete a prompt, effective and transparent investigation into her son’s death.
The High Court described the prolonged delay as a continuing constitutional breach and ordered the State to pay her EC$75,000, along with legal costs to be assessed if not agreed.
Justice Pariagsingh concluded that “a purely nominal award would not adequately reflect the gravity of a custodial death followed by years of unresolved investigation.”
For Daniel, however, the ruling has yet to bring financial relief. She said she has provided her bank account details but remains unsure where to turn to secure payment.
“I need it. And I don’t know where to go, how to get the money,” she said.
Daniel said the money is urgently needed for her health, describing physical pain, sleepless nights and the emotional strain of the unresolved case.
“So I said today I’m coming to see how I can get that money because I need it,” she said. “I really, really need it for my health.”
Her demand for compensation comes alongside her continued questions about how her son died.
Daniel maintains that he suffered a serious head injury and was rendered unconscious. She questioned how he could subsequently have taken his own life under those circumstances. Those claims remain her account of the disputed circumstances surrounding his death.
The State’s challenge adds another development to the long-running case.
In a document dated September 9, attorneys Nichola George-Benjamin and Rajiv Lennie, representing the Attorney General, challenged several findings and orders arising from the proceedings.
Among them is the requirement to complete the investigation within six months. The State’s appeal asks the Court to dismiss that order, arguing that police investigations and forensic work remain ongoing.
More than 12 years after her son’s death, Daniel continues to seek both payment of the court award and answers about what happened inside the police station.
