PORT OF SPAIN – Questions remain as to how eight-year-old Mukeisha Maynard died.
It was originally thought that the child was beaten to death with a cutlass by her father.
However, an autopsy done on the child’s body found that she was not killed by injuries sustained from blunt force trauma.
Pathologists have ordered that a toxicology report be done to determine whether the child ingested any dangerous substance.
Until a determination is made, the cause of death remains “inconclusive” but police investigators have classified it as an “unnatural death”.
The body has been released to her mother Maysonia for burial.
Mukeisha’s grandmother, Sandra Maynard, told Guardian Media she did all she could to keep her granddaughter safe even though the child was never left in her care.
The elderly Maynard is also debunking claims by the mother that she did not know that Mukeisha was in the care of her father. According to Sandra arrangements were made by the child’s mother Maysonia for them to be collected by their father. She says he took the children from the home of another male relative of the children’s mother with her permission.
While the woman insisted she does not condone what her son did, she said she never expected it to reach that point.
According to the elderly Maynard, Michael loved his children and blames what happened on a lack of parenting skills and an inability to cope with developmental issues that Mukeisha displayed.
Yesterday the police said they received at least three reports against Maynard. But his mother said additional emergency calls were made to the authorities.
Sandra also believes that the Children’s Authority should have done more.
“If when he was living across by my mother and we call the police and we call the people to come, Mukeisha would have been alive.”
She also said the rape case against her son was eventually dismissed.
“He was living with the girl at the time when she said he raped her. He hand was in a cast, the police lock him up, he already went to court and Michael win the case.”
Sandra said she did all she could to protect her grandchildren. She says she even asked their mother to relinquish custody to her. “She was to file custody for me to keep them children and she never do it. She would have been sleeping by me.”
Mukeisha’s 10-year-old brother is now in the care of his grandmother, Sandra. This she said proves that she cannot be blamed for what happened to Mukeisha. (Guardian Media)
