The gruesome murder of a mother of five has left a family bereft and a community in shock.
Ericka Fowler, 33, for nine years a valued employee of The Tribune, became the country’s 35th murder victim when she was stabbed to death in front of her home on Saturday night.
Last night, police confirmed that a suspect had turned himself in early Sunday morning.
Press liaison officer Inspector Walter Evans said that according to eye witness reports, Ms Fowler and a man got into a heated argument just before 9pm on Friday in front of her home on Comet Terrace in the Golden Gates area.
“This argument quickly escalated,” he said. Erika was attacked with a sharp object which police believe to have been a knife.
“When we arrived on the scene Ericka was lying on the street, on her back, lifeless: She had stab wounds about her body and several gashes to her throat,” he said.
After the incident, a man fled the area in a black Nissan Sentra.
Ms Fowler’s five children and her mother witnessed the crime.
Remembered by all who knew her as a “hard-working, loving person”, Ms Fowler leaves behind her mother, Rose Fowler, and her five children, Leo Jr. 15: Natrell, 14: Tanrio, 12; Targe, 11; and Lashon, 9.
During her employment at The Tribune — which began in 1997 – ﾠMs Fowler held the official title of assistant librarian and archivist. However, she was often described as the “most versatile employee” at the newspaper, having the skills to be able to work in every department.
Speaking with The Tribune yesterday, Rose Fowler described how she and her five grandchildren became witnesses to her daughter’s death.
“Me and the children and Ericka were all at home when (a man) came around. He tried to get in the house, and Ericka half-way opened the door for him,” she said.
Mrs Fowler said she was in her bedroom at the time and heard her daughter and the man “fussing and fighting.”
“I went into the kitchen and told them to stop fussing all the time. He threatened to kill the children right there in the kitchen, but I said he would have to kill me first,” Mrs Fowler said.
At this point, she said one of the children opened the kitchen door and let a man in.
“Ericka ran outside to get help from a neighbour and he came up behind her, running after her down the road,” her mother said.
She was stabbed, then dragged onto the back seat of a car parked outside the house.
At this time two of Ms Fowler’s children ran to get help from neighbours.
Fourteen-year-old Natrell told The Tribune that she and her brother, Tanrio, ran to seek assistance from somewhere.
Mrs Fowler said she ran ﾠafter them, but was afraid to get between the arguing couple.
She said the children took their mother out of the car. “They laid her on the ground and she was gasping for breath. When the police came she was still gasping, but when the ambulance came it was too late. She’d stopped breathing,” Mrs Fowler said.
Mrs Fowler said that she would always remember her daughter as a “most loving person.
“She never gave me any trouble. She always had a smile an her face. And whatever you asked her to do, she did,” Mrs Fowler said.
Ericka’s close friend and co-worker at The Tribune, Allison Miller, was in shock. She described Ericka as “incredibly hard-working and an all-around good person.” The Tribune’s business reporter Cara Brennen said that she will always remember Ericka, a person who never “let life get her down, who, regardless of the effort, always tried to help other people.”
Source: The Tribune, where Ms. Fowler will be sorely missed.
