By Leighton Williams, Projects Coordinator
Oneka Grant shows some of the knife wounds she received. – Leighton Williams photos
September 18 will be a day Oneka Grant will never forget. Grant was reportedly stabbed 141 times by her child’s father in Passage Fort, Portmore, when she told him she was not interested in a relationship.
“I was inside the room and he came in and closed the door. He asked me to give him a chance and I told him no. He grabbed a knife and I tried to run, but the door was locked and he just started stabbing me,” said Grant as she grimaced in pain.
The Waterford Police have confirmed Oneka’s ordeal and arrested 25-year-old Jermaine Beckford for unlawful wounding.
The 25-year-old woman said in her bid to escape, she fell, and Beckford allegedly pinned her to the ground and continued to stab and slice her all over her upper body, even attempting to cut her throat.
She said doctors told her she received 141 knife wounds. More than 100 of these wounds were on her face, necks and hands
“After I fell, him cover me and start stab mi in a mi neck. The knife blade break and him still a use it stab mi even though I was saying Jermaine yuh nuh see seh mi dead,” said Grant.
She said her son who was outside the room started calling for her.
“After a while mi stop feel anyting so di only ting mi could a seh a God tek care a ‘J’ fi mi,” she said as tried to fit into a comfortable position on her bed.
Revived her
Grant said during her ordeal she tried to call out for her sister, who was nearby, but the accused reportedly covered her mouth and continued stabbing.
“Him start strangle mi after a while and then start stab mi again wid a next knife. Him stab up mi hand dem and mi leg,” she said.
Grant said she managed to escape and ran on to the sidewalk where she collapsed. She said neighbours had to throw water on her to revive her.
“Mi hear mi likkle son a seh Mommy dead. So dem tek mi up a carry mi go a hospital,” she said.
Grant and Beckford are said to have been together for five years, but she ended the relationship last year because he was reportedly abusive. She said she had allowed him to stay at her home because of problems he was having in his community. She said she was planning to live with her brother when the incident took place.
Since the incident, neighbours have locked the room where Oneka’s ordeal took place. They have also removed the carpet and other bloody items from the room.
Oneka is traumatised by her ordeal to the point where she has covered the mirrors in her house. She even experiences pain whenever she cries as the tears seep into her cuts.
“A just the mercy a God why mi alive now. Mi neva fi dead and I thank God for that,” she said.
The Waterford Police said Beckford turned himself over to the police after the incident and was remanded in custody.
“He came to the station covered in blood and said they had an argument and he was defending himself. But, from we saw him we had no choice but to detain him,” said an officer at the Waterford Police Station.
“We went to the house and it was covered in blood so we instructed the officers on duty not to grant him bail. He was still in custody when we last checked,” the officer added.
The police said they were unable to confirm the number of times Grant was stabbed but added “she received multiple stab wounds but we don’t know the number because we haven’t got the medical report yet.”
Beckford is booked to appear in the Spanish Town Resident Magistrate’s
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