The mother of a Samoan woman stabbed to death in California last week is still trying to come to terms with the death of her daughter, Eleni Fonotaga Tavau.
Tupu Seigafo, in an exclusive interview with Irae Laasaga of Radio Polynesia on Friday at her residence at Vaitele, said is comforted to know her grandchildren will be coming to Samoa to stay with her.
She said her daughter was taken from them, and the defendant deserves the full extent of the law.
Holding back her emotions, Ms Seigafo said her daughter had major life goals living in America with her three children, so her babies can have a bright future.
According to media reports from Salinas, Tavau was talking about leaving Salinas for Reno to escape an abusive relationship and was murdered before she could move. Rodrigo Bravo, 32, her estranged boyfriend and the father of her two children who, according to police, witnessed their mother being stabbed to death in their apartment.
Police say Tavau, was murdered at her apartment. She was stabbed in the chest while home alone with two of her toddler-aged children and in less than three hours later Bravo walked into the Salinas police station, told police they were looking for him and confessed to the crime. Investigators say Tavau had a restraining order against Bravo for domestic violence.
Ms Seigafo said Tavau lived in America with her siblings, and they are in discussions with the authorities in California about when the body can be released. Either the body will be cremated, or it will be flown to Samoa, where she will be laid to rest in Vaitele, said the grieving mother.
