Overview:
Steevenson Telor, 22, fatally stabbed his 72-year-old father, Léonard Telor, in Ouanaminthe after days of erratic habits. Whereas some attribute the act to a Vodou spirit, others say it displays Haiti’s deep psychological well being disaster. Since Nov. 2, the Telor household has been grieving the
OUANAMINTHE, Haiti—Round 7 p.m. on Sunday, as Fèt Gede celebrations had been happening across the nation—a time devoted to honoring ancestors and the spirit of the useless— screams shattered the calm of Cité Vilmard in Ouanaminthe. Steevenson Telor, 22, a father of two, had fatally stabbed his 72-year-old father, Léonard Telor, within the household courtyard. The elder Telor, a father of 4, died from a number of stab wounds earlier than neighbors might intervene. At the least three different folks had been injured through the incident.
magistrate Renaud Pierre, who arrived on the scene, stated Steevenson—a father of two younger kids— seemed to be in a state of extreme psychological confusion. Witnesses reported that within the days earlier than the killing, he spoke incoherently, wandered the streets bare and appeared disconnected from actuality.
“Unusual indicators had been observed in entrance of his door,” Pierre instructed The Haitian Instances.
The killing on Sunday, Nov. 2 reignited conversations in Haiti in regards to the hyperlink between spirituality, trauma and untreated psychological sickness. Some residents imagine Telor was possessed after breaking a Vodou promise, whereas others see it as a tragic case of psychological collapse.
“He didn’t know what he was doing,” Steevenson’s spouse, Kerlande Harmless stated. Harmless is six months pregnant and stated she was injured whereas attempting to save lots of their child through the assault.
“It was whereas I used to be working to save lots of the child who was inside with him that I damage my shoulder. He didn’t know what he was doing anymore.”
Regardless of her grief, Harmless continues to specific compassion for her husband.
“I need him to get assist. He’s not a nasty individual — he’s misplaced his thoughts. I need him to get higher so we are able to reside collectively once more,” she stated.
A tragedy rooted in perception and silence, collateral victims and neighborhood trauma
In Ouanaminthe, Vodou traditions stay deeply woven into day by day life. A number of relations instructed The Haitian Instances the youthful Telor had promised to make an providing to a Vodou spirit known as Baron or Bawon, however failed to take action earlier than All Saints’ Day, Saturday, Nov.1.
“He was supposed to purchase a pig to arrange an providing, however he didn’t. That’s the place it began,” stated his sister, Pretty Telor.
To some, the tragedy represents punishment for breaking a non secular pact. Others, like resident Lukner Vincent, reject that view.
“That is very tragic for the household. I need him to get handled. He’s not a nasty individual — he’s misplaced his thoughts. I need him to get higher so we are able to reside collectively once more.”
Kerlande Harmless, companion of Steevenson Telor
“This isn’t in regards to the loa [Vodou spirit],” Vincent stated. “It’s insanity. He will need to have been in poor health.”
Three different folks had been injured through the assault, together with Harmless and two neighbors, Cherrou Théodore and Sonny Zéphirin.
Théodore, who was stabbed thrice, recalled the shock:
“I used to be on the motion pictures when somebody known as my identify. I barely stepped exterior when he stabbed me.”
Residents subdued the younger man earlier than police arrived. He stays in custody on the Ouanaminthe police station, the place his spouse says he continues to speak to himself and show indicators of agitation.
Neighbors described Steevenson as calm and hardworking, with no historical past of violence. “He by no means raised his voice to anybody,” Harmless stated. “Everybody within the neighborhood revered him.”
Including to the tragedy, neighbors revealed that his mom, Néhémy Pierre, who died three years in the past, additionally suffered from extreme psychological sickness. She was typically seen wandering the streets unclothed and incoherent.
Opinions stay divided in Ouanaminthe. Some residents interpret Telor’s breakdown as non secular possession, whereas others level to hereditary psychological sickness. magistrate Pierre urged restraint and reflection.
“We have to perceive what occurred past beliefs,” he stated. “We even have to contemplate the younger man’s psychological well being.”
Telor’s spouse has requested a psychiatric analysis earlier than any trial proceeds.
A rustic in psychological well being disaster
The case illustrates Haiti’s crucial scarcity of psychological well being companies. In line with the World Well being Group, only a handful of psychiatrists serve the nation’s inhabitants of greater than 11 million. With care typically inaccessible or unaffordable, households regularly flip to non secular or non secular explanations.
Dr. Emmanuel Stip, a psychiatry professor on the College of Montreal, noted throughout a 2014 symposium that Haiti had “solely 12 psychiatrists for 10 million inhabitants.” Little has modified since.
For Harmless, the precedence is her husband’s restoration.
“I do know he did incorrect, nevertheless it wasn’t like him,” she stated. “I simply need him to obtain remedy and discover peace.”