BUCHANAN, Grand Bassa – Police in Grand Bassa have arrested a 35-year-old man for beating his girlfriend to death.

According to the police, they received information about the assault from the town chief of Bacconnie, a community on the outskirts of Buchanan. Chief Alphonso Gee had told police that Sundaygar Willie had beaten and wounded his girlfriend, Nyan Queh, age 43. She was found dead in her bedroom on the morning of October 10.

Based on the information from the chief, police arrested Willie last Wednesday and brought him to Buchanan where he was detained.

Back in Bacconnie, the aunt of the victim, Esther Gongar, said Nyan Queh and Willie had returned from a wake at about 3:00 a.m. on Wednesday morning. After the couple arrived, Gongar said Queh told her that Willie had been under the influence of alcohol.

“They went to bed, but while I was still out preparing food for the next day for sale,” the aunt continued. “In that moment, a guy came to me and said, ‘Your daughter and her boyfriend are fighting.’ So, when we went on the scene, we saw her face bloody with three marks – one on her jawbone, her neck, and face.”

Gongar said she took her niece to a clinic where she was treated. Upon returning from the clinic, Gongar said the town chief had ordered men in the town to have Willie arrested and turned over to the police. However, the victim begged the town chief to avoid involving the police.

“She said, ‘If y’all turn him over to the police, who will buy the medicines for me? I beg you please don’t turn him over to the police,’” the aunt recalled.

At about 5:00 a.m., Gongar said Willie called her to attend to the victim, as she was no longer responsive. Willie denied further beating his deceased girlfriend and said she had simply stopped responding.

The home in which the victim was found dead in Bacconnie. Photo: Sampson David

The town chief then arrested Willie and turned him over to the police. Queh’s body was buried on Friday.

The victim’s aunt says she believes her niece died from internal bleeding. She now wants to see Willie in jail: “That is the only thing that will satisfy me [a] little bit, because she’s gone, and I can’t see her any longer.”

Gee, the town chief, said Willie had been with his girlfriend for two years, surviving through hunting and farming, as do most residents.

Bacconnie Community where the incident occurred. Photo: Sampson David

The suspect, Willie, has been charged with murder and sent to the Buchanan Magisterial Court. He is awaiting trial at the Upper Buchanan Prison Compound.

Featured photo by Sampson David