Friends: Victim ended 'controlling' relationship

New London - When Joanne Gaillard spoke to her best friend, Lynda Sanon last Friday, Sanon told her she had broken off the relationship with her fiance, Evens St. Hilaire.

The next day, Sanon was dead, allegedly stabbed by St. Hilaire.

"She said he started to be too controlling," Gaillard said Tuesday. "She said she broke off the relationship recently. She said she would remain cordial with him but she no longer wanted to be in a relationship with him."

According to a prosecutor's report, St. Hilaire, 31, told police the 25-year-old Sanon, who lived in Wallingford, went to his apartment in New London Saturday and the two fought. He said she threatened to harm herself and took a knife from a dresser drawer in the bedroom and raised it. St. Hilaire said he stabbed Sanon because he felt threatened.

The state Office of the Chief Medical Examiner Tuesday declared Sanon's death a homicide as a result of stab wounds to the neck.

Gaillard said she did not know why Sanon went to St. Hilaire's apartment.

"She was a great person," said Gaillard. "She was a very loving person. She wanted to help people. Her dream was to become a nurse to specifically help people from her country of Haiti."

Sanon was going to graduate this June from Goodwin College in East Hartford with an associate's degree in health science, college officials said.

Gaillard said Sanon was born in Haiti and came to Connecticut when she was 9. The women have been friends since then.

"We're all in shock," said Gaillard, who said she was speaking on behalf of the family. "We can't believe this happened."

Gaillard said Sanon had a 2-year-old daughter, Yanichel. Her brother and mother live in the area and she has numerous relatives in Port-au-Prince.

She said Sanon's mother is taking care of Yanichel.

"She asked for her mother this morning," said Gaillard, who doesn't know whether the family explained to the little girl that her mother is dead.

Sanon worked at Dr. Anatole Braylovsky's office in Wallingford as a medical assistant. Her co-worker, Ana Cruz, said she has known Sanon for 10 years. She said Sanon graduated from Lyman Hall High School in Wallingford.

"She was the nicest and kindest person I have ever known," said Cruz, who held back tears. "She wanted to help people. She had so much going for her. Everybody loved her. She got along with everyone."

Gaillard said Sanon was also a giving person. Soon after the earthquake last year in Haiti, Sanon went to check on her family in the Port-au-Prince area and to lend her medical skills.

"She showed me pictures of the devastation," said Gaillard. "It really pushed her to want to help people in need."

i.larraneta@theday.com