Monrovia – The Liberian government was Friday, June 28, forced to postpone the autopsy of the late Yvonne Yatta Kamara after the Liberian Pathologist hired got angry and walked out of the John F. Kennedy Hospital.
Report by Gerald C. Koinyeneh, [email protected]
The deceased was found unconscious with foam and blood oozing from her mouth and nose at Palm Spring Resort and was later pronounced dead upon arrival at the John F. Kennedy Medical Hospital on June 5, 2019.
According to family sources, the pathologist became furious when they questioned his credibility and qualifications after he had turned out for the autopsy.
“We only asked for his qualifications and how credible he is. That was all. And I think as a professional, you should expect that from people. But he got angry and abandoned the exercise. They said they will call us next week,” a family member who spoke on condition of anonymity told FrontPageAfrica.
According to the relatives, the incident happened in the presence of the police, Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection’s representatives, and representatives from First Lady Clar Weah’s office who had gathered at JFK Hospital where the deceased remains are currently being deposited.
The family has since expressed dismay over the pathologist’s professionalism and said they are contemplating on whether they should allow him to conduct the autopsy if it is rescheduled.
However, Police Spokesman Moses Carter said there was no fallout; rather it was a consensual agreement with the family, who claimed they have a relative in the United States that has promised to send a Pathologist to conduct the autopsy.
According to Carter, two autopsies (including that of the late Yatta’s) were scheduled on Friday, June 28, to be conducted by Liberian Pathologists, but just before the exercise, the deceased family stated that they are in discussion with a pathologist in the United States to come down to conduct the autopsy.
“The stage was set for the autopsies, but according to the Chief of Crimes Against Person of the Liberia National Police, it was the deceased aunt, who had said that one of their relatives in the United States is bringing a pathologist to conduct the autopsy on Yatta’s body. So the Liberian Pathologist called a name and it was this same man that the family was taking about.”
“We later found out that he [Pathologist from America] was not a licensed Pathologist. He is not recognized as a Pathologist but he portrays himself as a pathologist. For some reasons, the Liberian Pathologist was not happy about it and they put the autopsy of the other person on Monday, and they gave [the late] Yatta’s family the option to bring in their own autopsy or allow our Pathologist to conduct it if they agreed.”
Family Expressed Dissatisfaction over Police Investigation
Meanwhile, the family of the late Yvonne Yatta Kamara has expressed dissatisfactions over the way the case is being handled by the LNP.
Speaking to the media for the first time since their daughter’s untimely demise early June, the deceased mother and aunt explained that they are of the strong conviction that their daughter was killed.
The deceased mother, Massa Kamara, explained that her daughter sent for her from her native Sierra Leone to come seek treatment in Liberia when she got ill.
Madam Kamara said Yvonne was a Sierra Leonean but had spent most of her life in Liberia where she went to high school and graduated.
Speaking to FrontPageAfrica, she explained that shortly upon her arrival from Sierra Leone in late May, 2019, they were lying in bed one night when her late daughter received a threatening call from a male caller.
“I could hear what was said on the phone because it was in the middle of night and the room was quite. The person said Yvonne, I tried calling you but you refused to answer my call and I texted you but you didn’t reply me. And she said ‘Yes, it is because I don’t want to have anything to do with you.’ Then the person responded and said okay, but one thing I will tell you is today Liberia is big to you, but one day Liberia will be small in your eye,” Madam Kamara explained in her native Creole.
She continues: “When she hanged up the phone, I asked her who was that and what he wanted from her because his voice was threatening, but she said I should not worry, everything was fine.”
Her sister, Aminata Kamara added: That’s what my sister told me when I came from Sierra Leone. And when I heard that, I told her that she must have been murdered. If I were here I would have demanded the police to search Yvonne’s phone and trace all the calls she made and received during the days leading to her death.”
On the contrary to Ms. Kamara’s assurance to her mother, everything was not fine as it did not stay long when she left her home and never came back.
“When she left the house one morning, she didn’t come back. I was worried since I am a stranger and don’t know anybody. How could she just leave me and I didn’t’ come back or even call me. Three days later, people came to the house asking for her picture, that’s’ how I later learned that she died in a hotel,” she managed to explain with a teary eye.
How Did She End Up At Palm Spring Resort?
According to the family sources, the deceased and the suspect, Bob Enyindah Egeonu knew each other well and were believed to be in a relationship.
Egeonu, a 30-year-old Nigerian, is a hired IT consultant for GoBet, a segment of the business activities of the Palm Springs Resort.
He was reportedly hired to set up GoBet IT programs and to train local staff on how to run the programs.
Family sources said it was in his room, which consists of twin beds that the deceased went unconscious and was later pronounced dead upon arrival at the John F. Kennedy Medical Hospital on June 5, 2019.
Pictures in possession of FPA show the deceased lying unconscious on one of the beds. The family has since expressed dismay over the handling of the investigation as they feel abandoned and ignored in the process.
According to the deceased aunt, Aminata Kamara, the police have failed to show them where the suspect is being held in detention and gave regular update on the investigation.
This, she said, prompted the family to request the Embassy of Sierra Leone to assist them transport the body to Sierra Leone for burial but the LNP refused.
“We wanted the Embassy [of Sierra Leone] to help us to bury the body. But the government said ‘No.’ It’s the government’s body. And so we should give them two weeks. But the two weeks have come and gone. We have not seen anybody. They have not said anything to us. We don’t know whether this suspect is in custody. They have not allowed us to see him. They said when they show him to us we might harm him. We are being left in suspense,” she explained.
Police Spokesperson Carter, in respond said the police could not give the body as the death is being investigated.
He told FPA that Egeonu is still in custody as there have been nobody to sign for his release and the Police could not charge him in the absence of an autopsy.
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