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Young mom kills two children with poison

Mar 28, 2014 News

Tragedy struck the community of Perth, Mahaicony, shortly after 17.00hrs yesterday when a 21-year-old mother took the lives of her two children by feeding them a poisonous substance.
Jabari Cadogan, 16 months, died at the Mahaicony Cottage Hospital, while his sister, four-year-old Odessa Gordon, succumbed some hours later at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC), despite the best efforts of staffers to save her.
The mother, identified as Awena Rutherford, 21, is also believed to have ingested the same poison. At press time, she remained in a critical condition at the GPHC’s Emergency Unit.
Relatives said that Rutherford had given the children the deadly rodenticide known locally as ‘carbon tablets’, after telling them that she had “a surprise” for them. Kaieteur News understands that the young mother had bought the rodenticide earlier in the day, in the vicinity of the Plaisance car park.
Rutherford’s reputed husband, who lives overseas, reportedly called his mother earlier in the day and had asked her to keep the children at her Ann’s Grove, East Coast Demerara residence.
Sometime in the afternoon, Rutherford reportedly went to Plaisance to collect the children. There was reportedly no indication that anything was amiss, so the aunt handed the children to their mother.
Rutherford then took the children to her Perth, Mahaicony home, after saying “she had a surprise for them”.
On arriving at Mahaicony, she allegedly broke one of the ‘tablets’ and gave half each to the children, while she reportedly swallowed two of the ‘tablets’.
Someone later informed the aunt that Rutherford had poisoned the children and that they were at Mahaicony Cottage Hospital. By the time that relatives arrived, little Jabari Cadogan was already dead, and arrangements were being made to transport his sister and mother to the GPHC.
Several hysterical relatives accompanied the victims to the hospital, and broke into loud wailing after learning that the second child had also succumbed.
While they were all at a loss as to what had caused the tragedy, Rutherford reportedly told police at the hospital that she was experiencing severe domestic problems and accused persons of spreading rumours about her.
Relatives have contacted the woman’s overseas-based reputed husband and he is due to return to Guyana today.

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