Thirteen years after the unexplained, unlawful death of Chacadan Daniel in a St. Lucia police cell, a fresh legal battle has reignited the family’s decades-long fight for justice, leaving his mother reeling from new emotional and health distress.
In late July 2026, Justice Alvin Shiva Pariagsingh of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court delivered a landmark ruling that held the state accountable for its long-standing failure to conduct a timely, thorough, and transparent probe into Chacadan’s death. The judgment ordered the state to pay $75,000 in constitutional and vindicatory damages to Chacadan’s mother, Frances Daniel, and mandated that law enforcement wrap up the open investigation within six months. Should the deadline not be met, the ruling required authorities to submit a public report outlining completed investigative steps, justifications for delays, and a revised completion timeline. At the time of the ruling, the Daniel family welcomed the decision as a long-awaited win and a meaningful step toward closing the 13-year painful chapter of uncertainty.
That victory has now been thrown into question. Less than two months after the Supreme Court’s ruling, on September 9, the state’s Attorney General officially filed an appeal challenging almost every core element of the July judgment. Represented by attorneys Nichola George-Benjamin and Rajiv Lennie, the appeal challenges all the lower court’s findings that favored Daniel, including the critical six-month investigation completion mandate. Lawyers for the Attorney General argue that ongoing forensic and investigative work means the order to wrap up the probe within half a year is unnecessary, and are asking the appellate court to strike down the order entirely.
The appeal requests the full judgment and all related consequential orders from July 29 be thrown out, including the entire $75,000 damages award. If the court does not grant a full appeal of the ruling, the Attorney General’s filing alternatively asks for a partial appeal that would still overturn the six-month investigation deadline and the damages payment.
For Frances Daniel, the news of the appeal has come as a devastating blow that has reopened 13 years of unaddressed trauma. In an exclusive interview with St. Lucia Times, Daniel opened up about the intense emotional impact of the state’s latest legal move, saying, “When I got the appeal, I was feeling so sick, depressed. I didn’t know where to turn to.” She described an immediate physical reaction, noting her heart began racing the moment she learned of the filing, and says she now fears her already fragile health will deteriorate further after a decade and a half of chronic stress over her son’s death.
Daniel emphasized that the $75,000 awarded by the court was only ever intended to compensate for the 13 years of unnecessary waiting and suffering her family has endured. “I find it was very bad… for my health because I suffered a lot for 13 years; up to now I’m still suffering,” she added. Daniel says she is currently in consultations with her legal team to map out their response to the appeal and determine how to move forward with their fight for justice.
Chacadan Daniel was first reported dead on October 23, 2013, when authorities notified his family that he had been found unresponsive in his cell at the Micoud Police Station. A coroner’s inquest held in July 2015 formally ruled his death an unlawful killing, but no conclusive investigation or prosecution has been completed in the 11 years since that ruling, leaving the family without answers or closure to this day.