By EARYEL BOWLEG

Tribune Staff Reporter

ebowleg@tribunemedia.net

A MOTHER and her child were found slain at their Nassau Village home yesterday morning.

Police suspect the double killing came after a domestic dispute.

The child’s father, 35-year-old Edward Wallace, identified his murdered daughter as eight-year-old Ednique Wallace and her mother as Alicia Sawyer, 30.

Officers were called to the scene at Stack Avenue after 8am.

Mr Wallace said he learned about the horrific incident through his stepdaughter who lived with the two victims.

“My stepdaughter called me this morning,” the grieving father told The Tribune. “She tell me her mother bleeding on the ground and my daughter have a cut on her neck. She on the ground bleeding.”

He said his stepdaughter is now with his wife.

He described his young daughter Ednique as a “nice, loving, kind” girl and Ms Sawyer as “a good mother” who took care of her children.

He said the eight-year-old was a student at T G Glover Primary School and was set to enter the fourth grade.

At the scene yesterday, police press liaison officer ASP Audley Peters said the killings appeared to be connected to a domestic incident based on the evidence police were looking at, adding police were following “promising” leads.

Initially police said the two bodies appeared to have gunshot injuries, but later ASP Peters said officers could not say what the murder weapon was. Both victims did have injuries to their bodies, however, he said.

ASP Peters said Commissioner of Police Paul Rolle has put together a special task force for Nassau Village and the Royal Bahamas Police Force is confident the investigation will be brought to a swift closure.

This double killing came about a week after seven-year-old Reyes Williams was fatally shot in the Nassau Village community during a drive-by shooting, according to police.

Police said that shooting took place shortly before 9pm on Sunday, September 20, at Alexandria Blvd, when police received a report of gunshots being fired.

Police previously said a blue car approached a residence and an occupant opened fire on the people who were gathered in front of this home, resulting in the boy being hit.

The boy was heading towards his cousin’s house across the street when shots that appeared to come from the back seat of a Nissan Note struck him.

Yesterday, ASP Peters said the loss of a minor’s life is an incident that is “very disheartening” for anyone who is a parent or any sensible thinking person.

“That’s why it’s imperative for people who are aware of these persons who are in possession of firearms, who are participating in illegal activities that could cause what we consider to be casualties of war.”

As it relates to domestic violence concerns, he explained: “The home is supposed to be the safest place. Apparently for a long time in our community that has not been the case in all aspects and so whenever complaints of domestic violence come to the attention of the police we seek to act on it as quickly as possible. However, in some instances individuals ... report to police and they return and decide not to continue with those reports.

“We understand that there is a process that persons, whether it be the victim or whether it be the perpetrator, it’s a process that they go through when violence occurs in the home and so what we can as police officers, all we can do is take the initial complaint and act at the request of the victim. Where we can we refer the persons to the Ministry of Social Services for counselling or the relevant agencies who can assist with respect to family parenting and so we are concerned. In our concern, our actions are limited as to what we can do to eliminate the act in itself in its entirety.”

Anyone with information on these incidents should call police at 502-9991, Crime Stoppers at 328-TIPS (8477) or the nearest police station.