A Bel Air mother is crying out for help after the roof over her family’s head was torn away, leaving her and four out of her seven children exposed and displaced.
Cathy Gabriel says she is now struggling to pick up the pieces after the dwelling she occupied was partially destroyed while she and her children were still inside.
The modest structure, located on Crown Lands in Bel Air, was reportedly erected by the father of her last two children. However, Gabriel explained that the land is also occupied by members of his family and is leased in their name, a situation she says has fuelled ongoing conflict after she and the father split.
Videos now circulating on social media show the roof of the small home being stripped away. In the footage, a defeated Gabriel and her children can be seen watching helplessly as the structure is dismantled.
In an emotional video shared to Facebook, Gabriel publicly pleaded for intervention and protection.
“My name is Cathy Gabriel. I’m a mother of seven – four small ones. I want justice for my children,” she said.
Gabriel claims she received what she described as an eviction letter from the relatives of her children’s father.
She alleges that tensions escalated days before the incident.
According to her account, on February 8, a physical altercation occurred involving children from both households.
Gabriel further alleges that police officers from the Marigot Police Station were present when several individuals arrived and began dismantling the house.
She claims that after officers left, the situation worsened.\
The distraught mother said her children, ages three, four, ten and 12 among them, are traumatised.
“This is my home now… This is what they did,” she cried, panning her camera across the damaged structure.
Gabriel maintains that while she understood she might eventually have to vacate the property, she only wanted time to secure alternative housing.
“Even if the house is their brother’s own, so be it… I needed to get time to move. They didn’t give me time,” she said.
She also claims that materials used to build the home, including galvanized roofing reportedly obtained after a hurricane, became another source of dispute.
Now effectively homeless, Gabriel says she had begun seeking assistance prior to the incident, including approaching Crown Lands officials.
“I made my application… I was looking for a way to move,” she explained, adding that she felt the response she received was inadequate.
She is now calling on state agencies to intervene to provide not only protection, but help securing a safe place to live.
“I want justice for me and my children… Somebody have to pay for what they did,” she said.
Up to press time, no official statement had been issued by authorities regarding the incident, and the full circumstances surrounding the property dispute remain under review.
For now, Gabriel says her focus is survival and safeguarding her children.
