Stop spreading lies about Nordia - Sister of suicide victim speaks out

When Petergaye Scott picked up her phone on Saturday, January 12, the last thing she expected to hear was that her sister Nordia Markland had taken her own life.

The news came as a surprise to Scott because of their previous conversation which took place the day before.

She said they spoke the Friday morning about doing some business and told each other they loved each other and said goodbye.

"I texted her that night (Friday) for a follow-up on what we talked about and she didn't reply and I thought she didn't have service, so I said that I would call her in the morning," Scott said.

She described her sister as a very quiet person, who was dependable and hardworking. She said even though her death comes as a surprise, people should understand that depression is a sickness and so people should not be quick to judge when people make certain decisions.

While not condoning her sister's actions, Scott expressed that the wider public tearing down her sister is not helping her children or the family cope with what has happened.

Scott told THE WEEKEND STAR that her sister, who would do anything for her children, was facing hard times and they would often talk about that in their daily conversations.

"She was going through her own stuff. I wasn't looking for anything as critical as this. Her main problem was she wanted to know why she couldn't excel. Every time she tried something, it would fall apart and she was stressed about that," she said. "Also she lost her father two years ago, right after she had a baby and she was not coping with that well because when we talked, she would often cry and say she missed her dad. I think that she was going through postpartum depression. While trying to get her life back together, she got news that they killed her favourite cousin and she was a complete mess when she heard that."

Scott said that she encouraged her sister in the best way she could, but she believes that if Nordia had other persons encouraging her instead of tearing her down, she would have made some different decisions.

TELLING LIES ABOUT NORDIA

She said persons were telling lies about Nordia even after her death, including that she had AIDS, something Scott flatly denied.

She said at this moment, she and the family are grieving and are trying to find the best way to help themselves and the children deal with this incident.

Scott said the lies will not help her sister's children, who are old enough to understand what took place.

"People continue to use their mouths to meddle and people even start posting her kid and that is disgusting. The children are going to grow up in this stigma," she said.

Markland was found dead last Saturday around 4 a.m. at her home on Shannon Lloyd Crescent in Clarendon.

The Corporate Communications Unit said that there were no violent marks seen on her body.