THE FAMILY OF a Limerick man who was killed in the US last week are desperately trying to return both his children to Ireland.
Jason Corbett (39) died in his North Carolina home after a domestic incident.
The children are currently in the care of Corbett’s wife Molly Martins, the main suspect in the case.
Corbett’s sister Tracey Lynch and her husband David have travelled over to the US to try and bring the children, Jack (10) and Sarah (8), back to Ireland.
Their mother passed away from an asthma attack when Sarah was just 12 weeks old and Jack was two and a half.
David told Newstalk breakfast, “We have grave concern for the health and well-being of these children.”
Speaking to Morning Ireland on RTÉ Radio One, David said,
“My wife had been in touch with child protection from Ireland and before she left for the US she was told that when she arrived the children would be put into her care immediately.
However, he added “when she was changing planes in Newark airport to come to North Carolina she got a call from child protection services here to say the children had been put in the care of the children’s stepmother and that she has no rights”.
David described Jack and Sarah as “two beautiful children” explaining that they moved to North Carolina with their Dad four years ago.
Jason was trying to start a new life for himself . He was a director of a company in Limerick and it facilitated a transfer to one of its subsidiary companies in North Carolina.
He explained that they have had no contact with the children since the death of Jason, apart from a short phone call when he was driving his wife to the airport:
My wife got to speak to Jack for a couple of seconds…she just told Jack that she loved him and that his Daddy loved him and the phone was taken away from them.
“It’s an absolute nightmare here, it’s a nightmare. One of my best friends in the world died and the first thing I had to do was jump on a plane to try and stop the funeral arrangements that were planned in America, to try and secure his body.
My wife and I would have been very close to Jason….he told us his wishes that if anything ever happened to him he wanted to be buried with his first wife because that was the love of his life.
“We would have visited Jason every year in North Carolina and he would stay with us when he came home.
“My wife was a big help for Jason when Jason’s wife died.
Speaking about the next step they can take, David said, “It’s all attorneys now because unfortunately before we got here there was papers lodged in court.
“We have a custody hearing this Friday but it shouldn’t have even got to this. These children are two Irish citizens…they were linked to Jason’s work visa. They are technically illegal in the United States now.
We’re just lost here and we don’t know what to do. This whole thing is just a nightmare.
Permission has been secured to return Jason’s body to Ireland on Monday or Tuesday of this week. However, David added that there are no plans to return the body to Ireland until the children are given permission to leave the United States.
Additional reporting by Michael Sheils McNamee.
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