Etanu Dechassa Tullu
Etanu –known as Tigist- was born in Ethiopia, but due to her difficult living conditions, she traveled to Lebanon to work as a helper with a Lebanese family, in order to support her 17-year old daughter Kidist.
She worked in the house of Raymond Chami for two years, and when her employer passed away, she was given the choice to stay with the family, or return to her home country. Tigist chose to stay for one more year to cover her daughter's school tuition, and buy her a laptop. Thus, she rotated between the homes of late Raymond's three daughters, Katie, Stephanie, and Michelle.
Tigist was a model housekeeper, well-mannered, calm, and a great cook. She was very caring, and was devastated for the loss of her employer, as if she lost her own father.
She wanted to cover her daughter's education fees and return home to be by her side, but death was faster, it ripped off her dreams, and broke the hearts of her family members and employers. This cannot be God's will, it is a horrible homicide…
On August 4, 2020, Tigist was at Stephanie's. Stephanie lives in Kuwait, but she was on vacation with her daughter in Lebanon. Around 6:00 PM, they had just finished lunch, and they were sitting in the living room when they heard the first explosion, and saw the smoke from the sea side. Stephanie asked her daughter to stay away from the windows… Suddenly, a second huge explosion was heard, wreaking havoc in their house. They were wounded and lost consciousness. When Stephanie came back to her senses, she found out that Tigist was severely injured. She tried to save her, but it was impossible for an ambulance to reach Achrafieh amid the destruction. Stephanie's nephew arrived and evacuated her, with the help of the building's concierge, from the 8th floor apartment to Rizk Hospital.
There was little hope for Tigist to make it out alive. She suffered from a head trauma, her ears and nose were heavily bleeding. She stayed in the intensive care unit for four days. Unfortunately, she passed away on August 8.
The Chami family loved Tigist very much; they organized her funeral in Lebanon, gathering her closest friends. They also pledged to cover her daughter's tuition fees until her graduation. Tigist, who was supposed to return home in October 2020, arrived a dead corpse, victim of a tragic crime.