THE community of Plaisance was plunged into mourning when a well-known villager was stabbed to death by her neighbour, at Graham Street, on Monday, the day of her birthday.

Dead is 53-year-old Sharon Burnett of 47 Graham Street, Plaisance. She operated a small grocery shop at the front of her house.

The Guyana Chronicle was told that the woman was accused, by the suspect, of owning a monkey which had been stealing from him, and also taking the loot over to her home.

Her brother, Warren Burnett, on Monday morning, spoke with the Guyana Chronicle when reporters visited the scene. Warren said that he was sleeping when someone called and informed him that something was not right with his sister.

He explained that the police were contacted and they responded promptly and arrested the suspect. Warren said that he believed the suspect set a fridge alight to force the woman to exit the shop as she had already gone into the structure and closed up.

Sharon operated the small shop to the facade of her home on the government reserve and would sometimes sleep inside the shop to prevent it being broken into.

“Friday night around 8 to 8:30 [the suspect] came lashing down the counter telling her that she has a monkey that she minding and that it does go into his house and thief things; thief he money and bring it over to our house. My sister don’t have no monkey that is a strange monkey that does go at everybody house,” the brother told BIG Smith News Watch.

Warren said while he was in the Plaisance Market on Saturday he saw the suspect behaving disorderly and even threatening to murder someone. That prompted Warren to tell his sister to approach the police and make a report. It was unclear if she ever did.

The bereaved brother recalled that his sister and the suspect were very good friends and that the man would even take money to her at times for her to keep for him.