A care worker who was killed in a triple stabbing that left her daughter and husband in a critical condition has been described as a “mother to everyone”.
Alberta Obinim (43) died after an attack at the family home in Gorton, east Manchester, at about 11.20pm on Sunday. Her daughter (17) and husband (64) are in hospital with life-threatening injuries.
Greater Manchester Police (GMP) said a 22-year-old man had been arrested and the “early indications” were that he was known to the victims. The force said the stabbing was being treated as an isolated incident.
Armed police attended the address on Barnard Road where they found Obinim in the road with serious injuries. The mother of four died at the scene.
Three forensic tents were in place on Monday morning – one outside a property, another in the front garden, and a third in the road.
Obinim, a care worker, was described as a “powerful and inspirational woman” by friends who laid flowers at the scene.
Ibrahim Abu, a family friend, told the Manchester Evening News that Obinim was a member of the city’s Ghanaian community. He said: “She always talked to people and was a mother to everyone. She was always laughing.”
A colleague, who did not give her name, said all of Obinim’s co-workers were in shock. She told the newspaper: “I want to let her family know she was loved. Her family probably don’t realise how much the girls [her colleagues] do appreciate her. I don’t think anybody would have a bad word to say about her. She was lovely, really nice. She was well loved at work.”
Commenting on what Obinim was like as a colleague, she said: “She was a laugh, she was just funny. I would non-stop laugh with her. The people we used to care for loved her. It was non-stop laughing with her, she was amazing. The people we cared for really loved her. She’ll be missed.”
Det Supt Toby Facey of GMP said: “We understand that the local community and further afield across Greater Manchester will be rightly shocked and concerned after waking up and hearing this tragic news this morning. Our thoughts remain with those affected and their loved ones at this difficult time. We are doing all we can to support them.
“Within minutes of the call being made, our officers were at the scene and an arrest had been made. An investigation has been launched and we are in the very early stages of our inquiries. We have had detectives on the ground who have been working throughout the night trying to get to the bottom of what has happened and why.”
He appealed for members of the public to come forward with any information about the incident by contacting police on 101. – Guardian