On Monday night, Christie Alexandra Carrasco, 21, of Orange Walk Town, attended a wake for her 103-year-old great-grandmother, on Market Lane in the vicinity of La Immaculada School.
Little did Christie know that that night would be the last she would spend on this earth. Before 9 o’clock that night, Christie was viciously stabbed to death. Police have charged her live-in boyfriend, Osmar Sabido, 25, with murder.
Sabido appeared on Tuesday, March 1, in the Orange Walk Magistrate’s Court, where he was charged and remanded into custody until April 6.
Christie, a customer care representative at Smart, leaves behind a baby girl, 2, from another relationship.
But what could Christie have done to deserve such a tragic death? This was the question many asked, as they tried to sort out the motives behind this cruel and apparently premeditated act, carried out by an obviously deranged, jealous and possessive common-law husband and stepfather.
Reports to Amandala are that while Christie was at the wake Monday night, Sabido, with whom she had been living for a year and a half, kept texting and calling Christie’s phone, inquiring about her whereabouts.
Christie subsequently left the wake in her car, dropped off an aunt and headed home, where she had intended to take a shower and then return later in the night to the wake.
But Sabido, who must have crossed the “thin line,” had other plans, deadly plans, up his sleeve for Christie. As a matter of fact, reports are that Sabido had already dowsed the entire house with kerosene, and had called his mother in San Pablo, informing her that he would burn down Christie’s two-bedroom house in the San Lorenzo housing site – information, we are told, that Christie also received.
When Amandala visited Christie’s house with the permission of the family, we noticed that the house smelled strongly of kerosene, and the baby’s pillows, the couch, the floor were soaked in what smelled like kerosene.
Christie’s uncle, Mark Chavarria, told us what the family had observed during the course of the day leading to the night, a little before Christie left the wake.
“Her husband was constantly calling her, demanding that she come along with him. Apparently he was a very possessive person, obsessed with her, and he always wanted her around him, and he was not too happy when she was around her family.
“She received several phone calls throughout that period, and he was harassing her over the phone and apparently she went to meet him to get ready for the wake,” said Chavarria.
We are told that Sabido’s mother called the police informing them of Sabido’s intention to burn down the house, and that the police did go to the area, but saw no signs of arson in progress. They reportedly stayed in the vicinity, overseeing the house.
A few moments later, neighbors in the area saw Christie and Sabido pull over in front of their house. Eyewitnesses told us that Christie was driving and Sabido was in the front passenger seat. According to them, he got out and pulled Christie out by the hair, beat her up and then threw her on the street.
We are told that during the beating, Christie remained silent, with the police parked at the corner of the lane. Sabido then inflicted the first stab wound in the chest, and still neighbors said they did not hear anything.
Christie, they said, did not shout for help; if so, they believe the police would have heard, and they, too, could have assisted her and possibly saved her life.
It was not until the second stab wound, one directly in the heart, that Christie ran, yelled out “help,” and then collapsed, pointing to Sabido and signaling to the police officers that he was the man who had stabbed her.
Elva Alvarez, Christie’s next door neighbor, told Amandala that she saw the police patrolling the area, but did not know that it had to do anything with Christie.
“I was by the screen door when the police come, and when the police passed by, they left. They did not stop for long; they just slowly went down the street, and I saw when Christie came.
“So when Christie came I went inside my house, and I did not know she had a problem, but five minutes after I went inside, I heard a loud screaming. So I ran out and when I looked, I saw her on the ground. The boy[Sabido] had her by the hair and had already stabbed her. She then got up and ran and dropped, and then ran towards the policeman and begged for help,” said Alvarez.
Another neighbor, and close friend of Christie’s, Handa Cambranes, ran to Christie’s assistance. According to Cambranes, they heard a scream and then saw when Sabido inflicted the second, fatal stab wound.
Christie ran, but collapsed, said Cambranes, and meanwhile Sabido stood there and watched pitilessly as Christie begged for help.
“He just stood there like he had done nothing wrong, and he had a big smile like he had done the world’s greatest. Like he had accomplished what he wanted.”
Cambranes says Sabido then threw the murder weapon, a knife, in Christie’s car. The police, along with Cambranes, then put Christie in the police mobile unit, along with Sabido.
Christie, who wore a black blouse, bled profusely, and Cambranes says that in the police vehicle, she kept talking to her to stay alive and not to go to sleep, but a couple blocks away, after passing a speed bump on their way to the Northern Regional Hospital, Christie, known to everyone as an energetic, vivacious and chatty young woman, gave her last breath and died in Cambranes’ arms. Her last words again were “help”.
“What I witnessed last night was the worst thing I could have ever witnessed in my life, and I don’t think it is going to go away anytime soon,” said Cambranes.
Was Christie the victim of domestic abuse, or was her death the result of a sick obsession?
Christie’s family say they don’t think Christie was the victim of abuse. According to Chavarria, obsession might have been the motive for the murder, because Christie never told them that she was being abused by Sabido, and if so, the family says Christie would have said so, because she was a no-nonsense person.
“At no time were there any reported incidents of domestic abuse with her. The only flaw that we saw was that he really did not like to mingle with our family, and he always wanted her in his company most of the time, and to avoid any confusion or quarrel, she conceded to that.
“Christie was young, very beautiful and full of life. Likewise, she was very humble, very jovial and I never knew about her having any enemies. She resented domestic violence and I am sure if there was domestic violence, she would have been out of that relationship a long time. So I don’t think there was any domestic violence early in the relationship, but it appears that she sort of tolerated the obsession, if you can call it that, but not domestic abuse.
“It is unfortunate that here she is busy preparing to lay her great-grandmother to rest and the guy is harassing her. I mean, she was not doing anything out of the way. She was just doing what any good great-grandchild would do.
“We are devastated, even though our great-grandmother was a hundred and three years, we expected her to die at some point, but having a person die at a hundred and three and the other at twenty-one, it is really devastating,” said Chavarria.
Neighbors in the area said they never knew or heard of any physical altercations between the couple. A neighbor said they always appeared loving and described Sabido as a quiet fellow and very soft-spoken.
Christie leaves behind her daughter, Catherine Blease; mother, Marie Carrasco; father, Homer Carrasco; and two brothers Homer, Jr., and Vince Carrasco.
Funeral services will be held Thursday, March 3, in Orange Walk Town at La Immaculada Church, commencing at 3:00 p.m.
We were told that Christie had a large wake last night – about 700 persons showed up. The wake was held at her parents’ home on Price Avenue.