Deceased’s girlfriend suspected in his murder

We begin tonight’s newscast with reports of a weekend of violence, including three murders. In the first case, a live-in girlfriend who recently was released from central prison appears to be the main suspect in the murder of her boyfriend at a horse track. It happened in the wee hours of Saturday morning in Burrell Boom and police are working overtime to crack this latest murder case. News Five’s Jose Sanchez was in Burrell Boom today and unearthed details in the gruesome murder.

Jose Sanchez, Reporting
Early Saturday morning, Anthony “Antics” Herrera was hacked to death with a machete at his home on the horse track in Burrell Boom village. The quiet and peace of the day concealed the brutality that occurred inside the tiny white house. The police have been mostly quiet about the case that they have been building.

Insp. Calbert Flowers, O.C., Ladyville Police Station
“On Saturday sometime after eight o’clock a.m., the Ladyville police station received information about a chopping incident in the Burrell Boom Village. The police arrived at the area sometime around eight-thirty where they found the lifeless body which has later been identified as Anthony Herrera. Obvious on the body were several chop wounds to the neck and head area. Our investigation reveals so far that Mr. Herrera was home along with a female companion.”

According to a statement given by Kimberly McLaughlin, Herrera’s girlfriend, someone hollered for Herrera and when she opened the door two masked men forced their way inside and one of them chopped Herrera. She is the only witness and cops have detained her. Herrera’s sister, Betty Jean, had some insight into her brother’s relationship with McLaughlin.

Betty Jean Herrera, Sister of Murder Victim
“When I buck ah, di two time since he live with di young lady, dah neva nothing hot. I always hear dehn quarrel, di gial she ih wah kill ah but he seh he no wah mek she kill ah; he wah kill she and so comes when I hear di Saturday morning dat ih dead. Dehn she when ih send di gial out go buy grocery, di gial go four, five days, come back, he go back fi di gial or di gial come back fi he. But dah wah life weh mi live over and over. Dah neva wah life weh sweet den cause nobody noh know weh yoh live inna yoh house. Only she could ah mi she di life weh ih live; I can’t she dat but I di tell u di part weh he tell me.”

Jose Sanchez
“Do you think she had anything to do with it?”

Betty Jean Herrera
“Well I really can’t say sir, I can’t say dah part; I noh know.”

While Herrera’s sister wasn’t sure who did it, his niece felt that McLaughlin’s story was full of holes.

Niece of Murder Victim
“When di murder done occur she stay deh, she bathe, she change her clothes. Di morning she get up and leave fi catch di bus, noh inform no one like Antics dead inna di house. She no inform nobody; she tek her time, walk to di bus stop and when she reach Belize, dat dah round bout nine ten when we get di call, den she gone home, gone dah her niece and tell her niece dat dehn kill Antics. If somebody go kill your husband or something to you, she have wah phone, noh tell me she noh know 911 number, she have wah cell phone. Dehn find my uncle money pan ah, ih chain and his phone… dat dah no sign ah jacking. She had something fi do wid dat. She done murder already, walk off free so she think she could do it again and walk off again.”

Jose Sanchez
“The family members are saying that this woman just came off a murder rap where she supposedly stabbed a previous boyfriend. Is your investigation showing any about that?”

Insp. Calbert Flowers
“Well, we are investigating and yes, the investigations reveal that she was on remand for a murder in the past.”

Jose Sanchez
“It is reported that she said after two thirty in the morning two men came into the house, she opened the door for them, and they attacked him. If that happened two-thirty the morning, according to her story, and she didn’t make this report till about eight, does that bring questions about her?”

Insp. Calbert Flowers
“Like I said before, she’s in police custody, she is being questioned at this time, and the investigation is young and I don’t wish to reveal exactly what the investigation is saying at this time. We just want to ask the general public if they have any information whatsoever about this latest murder incident, they can please contact us at the Ladyville Police Station or any police station in the area and give us the information.”

Reporting for News Five, Jose Sanchez.