By Gemma Handy
The distraught family of Damien Allred who was last week sentenced to life in prison in Canada for the horrific murder of an elderly disabled woman say an appeal is underway against his conviction.
The 43-year-old former Antigua Grammar School student had been living in Toronto with his wife and children in an apartment just down the hallway from where 75-year-old Teresa Santos was brutally murdered in her home.
His mother and sister have vowed to fight for justice for him, claiming a litany of racist and discriminatory actions by the Canadian judicial authorities.
Sonia Allred and daughter Nicky Allred-Weste are adamant that father-of-five Damien is innocent and that the conviction is another example of a man of colour being wrongfully accused.
Sonia Allred, of Fitches Creek where Damien also used to live, described her son as “loving and kind”.
“Even though he’s been locked up almost three years now he calls me every day to check on me,” she told Observer yesterday.
“He’s a good, loving, kind father who’s always taken care of and nurtured his children.
“He’s a good man and I love him dearly. I’ve put this in the hands of the Lord, and I know justice will be served and he will be OK,” she added.
Damien was born in the US to his Antiguan mother and Canadian father and moved to Antigua with his family when he was 12. He spent many years living on the island, later spending intermittent stints in North America.
Santos, who had walking disabilities, was found dead in her apartment in August 2020 with wounds on her face – which was covered by a blood-stained pillow – broken teeth and shattered ribs from being stomped on.
Allred became a suspect after investigators apparently found a trail of bloody footprints consistent with the PUMA footprint found on the pillow in Santos’ apartment leading down the hallway to where Allred lived. Allred’s DNA was also found under Santos’ fingernails.
But the family say the DNA discovered was microscopic and likely transferred from something as simple as touching the same elevator button.
In a statement sent to Observer, Damien’s sister Nicky Allred-Weste said, “We as a family wholeheartedly know that he is innocent of this crime.”
She claimed her brother was arrested “under false pretences” as investigators sought to build a case against him.
“The female detective found it necessary to inform him over and over throughout this interview that the lady that had passed “was one of her kind” … we later found out that she was referring to her ethnicity,” the statement said.
“Then with absolutely no evidence and no lawyer they booked him and charged him with murder.
“When taking his picture, which she then released to the press, they made him remove his shirt and take the hair-tie out of his hair, obviously to portray him in a negative light.”
She went on to say that the constant switching of public defenders impeded justice, and delayed the family’s “ability to have a proper investigation conducted on behalf of and in defence of Damien”.
Allred-Weste claimed Damien’s defence team was never given pertinent documents or full funding to carry out vital analysis of the evidence collected.
She also said, despite requests for an ethnically diverse jury, all jurors were Caucasian.
“We pray that the true murderer of this lady is found as they have just convicted once again another man of colour for a crime he did not commit… We will continue to fight to reveal the truth in this case,” Allred-Weste added.
In sentencing Damien, Superior Court Justice Suhail Akhtar noted that he had suffered from drug and alcohol addiction and had also been on medication for depression and anxiety.
The court previously heard Damien – who had no prior convictions – had been on a “downward spiral” after losing his construction job due to the Covid pandemic in summer 2020 and had stopped taking his anti-anxiety meds.
He is currently facing at least 17 years behind bars before he is eligible for parole.
Damien is well known in Antigua and Barbuda through his work as a tattoo artist. When news broke of his arrest more than two years ago, it was received with widespread shock by local residents who remembered him as a good man and a caring friend.
The Allred family added that they will not rest until he is freed.
