‘Trishana was my ride or die’
Mother mourns as Jamaican woman found dead in Florida
Published:Thursday | October 31, 2024 | 12:12 AMAndre Williams/Staff Reporter
Collette Gaynor travelled in great despair last evening from New York to Florida in the United States (US), where today, she will have the unenviable task of positively identifying the body of the second of her four children, 29-year-old Trishana Voneen Tully.
Tully was found dead with apparent signs of trauma Monday evening at her apartment in Orange County, Florida, authorities said.
Gaynor, who resided in Maverley in St Andrew, during an emotional video call yesterday, told The Gleaner that she last spoke to a physically abused Tully on Sunday.
Gaynor said her daughter did not express fear of anything but that she had been facing domestic violence issues in recent times.
“On Sunday, when I video call her, I saw a big coco (swelling) over her head. She said, ‘Mommy, I call the police and the police is here’, and I leave her to talk to the police. After the police leave, me ask her what is it, and she was explaining the whole situation ... ,” Gaynor said before indicating that she had been told by the police that an individual had been taken into custody. Up to yesterday evening, however, there was no official police report identifying a suspect.
Gaynor, who recently migrated from Jamaica to New York, told The Gleaner that she expected to land in Florida late Wednesday.
“I will identify her body tomorrow (Thursday) morning as soon as possible,” she said before crying inconsolably.
“She (Tully) leave Florida to come to New York just to be with me for couple days. She just went back to Florida Friday. Trishana was my ride or die. Trishana was there for me every time me need her. When me want go nowhere, a me and her a go,” a tearful Gaynor said.
Gaynor told The Gleaner that the dreadful news was relayed to her by Tully’s manager at FedEx, where she was employed.
“Her manager sent me a message that she heard it on the news. I spoke to her earlier up in the afternoon, so when I tried to call her back in the afternoon, I am not getting through to her, so I called everybody to check on her to see what is happening because she not answering the phone,” Gaynor said.
She told The Gleaner that she asked a friend of her daughter’s to file a report at the police station.
“When the manager text me and said that she not getting her and she saw the news, she ask me, ‘Is it true?’, and I said, ‘I don’t know. I don’t hear anything. I calling her from yesterday and nah hear her’, and she sent me a screenshot of the news,” Gaynor said.
Went above and beyond
She described her daughter as a fun-loving person.
“She went above and beyond. Anybody call her for any assistance or anything, [if] she is there, she nah tell you no. She will give you her last. She is very helpful. She always a smile, no matter what,” Gaynor said.
Grief-stricken relatives and residents gathered at their Maverley home listening in on the interview with eyes swollen from crying.
Tully’s sister, Nieca-Dada Gaynor, said she last saw her while she was on a recent visit to Jamaica.
“A couple months ago she came here for her birthday, and she came after that for one day, come for her two youngest kids and go back. That’s the last time me see her. I have to try be strong for me, my family, and nephew (Tully’s son). Me also have to be strong for my great-grandmother,” she said.
The younger sibling told The Gleaner that every time she opens her phone she sees a photo of her sister, which she noted is a testament to the loving relation they shared.
“Sunday is the last time I talk to her. She made a ads (audio-visual) representing for my party that I have coming up on Saturday. She was very supportive,” Gaynor said while playing the infomercial for the party.