‘Killer’s arrest may bring Davantes peace’

MANILA, Philippines - Upon confirming that a man had confessed to killing his niece, Kristelle Davantes, Vince Davantes said he and his family went to the Manila Memorial Park in Parañaque City, where the 25-year-old advertising executive was laid to rest.

“We told her, ‘Kitel, we hope you have peace of mind, wherever you are,’” a teary-eyed Vince told The STAR Saturday night. He tried to look composed during the interview, smiling each time he held back from crying.

Kitel is the nickname bestowed on Davantes by her father’s relatives, while her mother’s kin called her Nanang.

Vince said they were initially in disbelief when they heard that the National Bureau of Investigation arrested Samuel Decimo, one of the suspects in Davantes’ slay. He was sleeping in a house in Bulacan when the media called him up to ask for his reaction.

Vince did not know what to say – simply because he was not sure of the good news that came to him at around midnight of Sept. 21 - two weeks after his niece’s grisly murder.

“We’ve yet to see if that guy is the one,” said Vince in a phone interview with a radio reporter.

A few seconds later, his relatives started calling, asking him to turn on the television to watch a news program. “They said (her) killer was arrested,” Vince recalled his relatives saying.

Vince will stand as the main complainant in the case because her parents, both overseas workers will have to go back to their work in Saudi Arabia.

When asked why Davantes’ parents did not go to NBI after Decimo’s arrest, Vince said her mother cannot bear to do so, while he told her father – his brother, Pedro – that he would take care of the case. “He might have a heart attack,” Vince said.

Davantes’ father is set to leave on Sept. 25, while her mother will wait until the traditional 40-day period of mourning is over. Both parents were abroad when Davantes was killed.

‘Hopeful’

Vince said their family is hopeful that Decimo will not retract his statements so that his niece gets justice. “

During the interview, Vince kept shaking his head. He could not believe her niece’s life would end this way.

“Sayang. Sayang talaga (What a waste),” he said.

The Saudi Arabia-born Davantes, he said, was on the right track to achieving her dream of succeeding in the world of advertising. Davantes was a senior account manager for McCann Worldgroup Philippines.

During the interview, Vince appeared calm and composed.  But pain was eminent as he shifted from discussing the case to remembering his niece as a little girl who loved grapes.

He used to lift her up to reach the grapes – tied to an elevated part of the house – and she would hug him in glee, Vince said, ending the interview with a shake of his head as he struggled to fight back tears.