Hyacinth Gardner, 72, of Santa Rosa, is thought to have been killed by a bandit, according to police. On the morning of February 5, 2024, police and a laborer discovered her corpse in her Santa Rosa, California, house on Lime Boulevard.
Hours after the murder, the Santa Rosa Community Council released a statement calling Gardner “a cherished member of the community” and stating that the area was disturbed by the occurrence.
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The statement further noted, “While the council has been in talks with the police about revitalizing the neighborhood watch groups, it hurts that the initiative did not bear fruit in time to possibly alleviate the incident.”
Gardner employee visited her house that day at 8:30 am, he discovered that her car was gone and that someone had tampered with the CCTV system.
Upon entering the house with his keys, the man saw that various items were gone.
When Gardner did not pick up when he tried contacting her, he grew concerned and went to the Pinto Police Post to file a report.
Accompanied by the police, they broke through a bedroom door and discovered Gardner’s lifeless body.
Her silver Subaru was discovered wrecked and left behind near Wallerfield.
Gardner immigrated to the US some decades ago, and after spending the previous several years traveling back and forth between the two nations, he came home in December 2023.
She planned to remain in T&T while finishing up the repairs at her Lime Boulevard residence.
The Santa Rosa Community Council president, Keifer Rodriguez, told reporters the day following the event that the community and the Santa Rosa police station have been in discussions over the police council’s resuscitation.
Rodriguez stated, “The issue really is how we, as a group, move forward to get more resources, to access more resources for the area. The police post itself is so small for the geographical area that it really serves.”
While adding, “There’s not enough resources to really cover the entire jurisdiction adequately. So I think that’s where the problem really lies. In terms of deferring criminal activity, the (police) presence is not really felt as it should.”
He added that police officers had concurred with them and informed them that the proper authorities had been informed of their concern.
According to Rodriguez, the council is also working to increase locals’ trust in the T&T Police Service (TTPS).
“We are trying to build confidence between the TTPS and the police post and the community itself because in the past residents felt a bit scared to report anything or to say anything. So the initiative also is to try and let them know they can feel free to call the police and if they see something, say something.”
Given Gardner’s dual US and T&T citizenship, police are reportedly following leads into the incident, but there has been no news yet on whether the US embassy has offered to help.
The US State Department advised US citizens to reevaluate their travel plans to T&T because of violence when it revised its travel recommendation in July 2023.
A Carnival safety advisory was also sent by the embassy on January 24, alerting people to a “heightened risk of criminality during Carnival.”
It also asked residents to “be observant” and warned of an uptick in home invasions.
