Barway Collins' Birth Mom, Louise Karluah, Thanks Minnesota Community
April 30, 2015
The birth mother of 10-year-old Barway Collins thanked Minnesotans for their concern about her son's case, but declined to answer questions at a brief news conference Thursday afternoon.
Louise Karluah arrived from Liberia on Wednesday to attend her son's funeral, which had been postponed until this weekend to give her a chance to be present.
In a soft voice, Karluah thanked everyone who helped search for Barway and to arrange Saturday's funeral for him. She declined to answer questions about Barway's life in Liberia before he came to Minnesota a few years ago.
She next planned to visit Evergreen Park World Cultures Community School in Brooklyn Center, where Barway was a fourth-grader. She is then expected to meet with the pastor at Shiloh Temple in Minneapolis, where the funeral will take place.
Earlier Thursday, she postponed a meeting with Crystal police, according to David Singleton, chairman and chief executive of Minnesota Community Policing Services, which is providing security for her. Karluah, did however, speak with police before leaving the airport Wednesday, Singleton said.
When Karluah arrived at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, dressed in black, she was rushed into a car without speaking to media, according to several Liberian community leaders who were present.
Singleton said that after Karluah left the airport, she was escorted to the Estes Funeral Chapel; she did not view Barway's body.
Barway's father, Pierre Collins, is in the Hennepin County jail, accused of killing the boy to collect insurance money.
Barway's funeral is scheduled for 11 a.m. Saturday at Shiloh Temple in north Minneapolis. Karluah and Pierre Collins' wife, Yamah Collins, will help plan the closed-casket funeral.
Barway was last seen alive getting off his school bus in front of his Crystal apartment March 18. His body was found in the Mississippi River April 11.
Now his father sits in jail on $2 million bond, charged with second-degree murder. His request to see his son's body before the burial was denied by a judge.
Barway came to the United States from Liberia when he was 5 to join his father, who had arrived a few years earlier.
By Karen Zamora - www.startribune.com Star Tribune
Source: By Karen Zamora - Star Tribune
