In a single casket, the remains of Evelina Miller and her five-year-old granddaughter, Amy Chattergoon, were placed Saturday for a joint funeral service five months after they died in a fire that destroyed their family home in Gasparillo.
The service was held at Gasparillo Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Church, where Miller was a member.
Miller, a great-grandmother and little Amy were among three people trapped inside the burning house on the morning of June 25. Her nephew’s girlfriend, Lakeisha Grant, also died in the blaze. She was six months pregnant. Another granddaughter, 16-year-old Kimberly Chattergoon, who was severely burned in the fire, died three days later at San Fernando General Hospital.
The teenager rested.
The remains of the child, the grandmother and Grant were kept at the Forensic Science Center in St James until DNA testing confirmed the identity last week.
At the funeral service Saturday, granddaughter Candice Scott described Miller as a peacemaker who never used foul language.
Scott said her grandmother was born in the same house where she died. “She had a smile that would light up a room and she never missed a cricket match, especially if the West Indies were playing,” she said.
Scott said her grandmother loved to bake and dress in her favorite color, red.
Miller was a mother of three, grandmother of seven and great-grandmother of one.
Aunt Nikita Renee said little Amy was an angel in the family. She was soft-spoken and loved to hug, even when warned against it during the Covid-19 pandemic.
She said Amy loved spending time with her grandmother.
The child was with her grandmother when the fire broke out in the bedroom, trapping them inside.
The remains of Miller and her granddaughter were buried in the churchyard.
The family was asleep on Caratal Road, Gasparillo, in their home when fire broke out in a bedroom around 2 a.m. on June 25.
Neighbors recalled hearing little Amy screaming for her father to help her.
Grant, who was six months pregnant with her first child, was buried last Wednesday.
Relatives said Grant was almost out of the burning home when she went back inside to help the child and grandmother. But the roof collapsed.
All three never made it out alive.
The family has been staying in a house owned by the Caratal Roman Catholic Church since the incident.
The house was inhabited by 14 people.
Preliminary investigations revealed that the fire started in an electrical outlet inside the bedroom occupied by little Amy Chattergoon.
Amy had shared a bedroom with her father, Arnold Chattergoon, and eight-year-old sister, Arianna. Arnold Chattergoon was at San Fernando General Hospital with his eldest daughter when the incident occurred.
