RELATIVES of a Carapo man held in connection with the stabbing of a teenage mother is denying the version of events given by the woman’s family.

Police reported that the 24-year-old was held along the Churchill Roosevelt Highway at about 11.30 am on Tuesday. At the time he was being chased by a group of men, police said.

The arrest came minutes after the 18-year-old woman was stabbed near her Maloney Gardens building apartment.

Speaking with Newsday on Thursday afternoon, the suspect’s mother said the report by the relatives of the teen differ vastly from what her son told her.

Newsday visited Maloney Gardens and spoke with the woman’s father who warned parents and children alike, to seek help from relevant authorities if they find themselves in abusive relationships. He said he was thankful the community assisted his daughter when she needed it most.

The man recalled hearing his daughter scream and seeing her bleeding on the ground floor of the apartment complex. An off-duty police officer and residents helped him to take his daughter to the Arima Hospital from where she was transferred to the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex.

“I used to always go and collect my grandchild, but she (my daughter) end up going (for her).”

He said the change in the routine came at the behest of the suspect.

“When I reach downstairs I just see blood squirting out her neck. I was watching in her eyes and I saw the look like ‘He really stabbed me?’ in her eyes. It is a look I can't describe and will never forget,” the father of three said.

He said his daughter began working last December and will be turning 19 next Tuesday. As his first child and only girl, he said he chose not to pursue criminal charges against the suspect for fathering a child with his then 16-year-old daughter because he wanted to ensure his grandchild had her father’s presence in her life – a decision he does not regret.

While both parties gave differing sides of the relationship between the suspect and the victim, the one thing both agreed on was that the relationship between the two was strained at best.

The suspect’s mother said her son hardly, if ever, dropped off his daughter at the victim’s home because of the failed relationship. She said his sisters would normally do so to avoid any confrontation.

Police said the suspect remains in custody at the Maloney Police Station as investigations continue.

The teen is in the intensive care unit at the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex and is responsive her father said.