A close friend of a woman who died after suffering a fatal blow to the head while vacationing in Barbados says Terry Schwarzfeld's family hopes the correct person has been arrested in connection with her death and that justice will be served.

Mitchell Bellman told CTV Ottawa Schwarzfeld's family was notified of the arrest by the media on Monday and said the Barbados High Commission is expected to meet with the woman's family sometime soon.

Schwarzfeld, 60, died last week after suffering a blow to the head by a would-be robber while she took an afternoon walk with her daughter-in-law on an isolated stretch of beach on Feb. 28. Although both women were hurt, Schwarzfeld took the brunt of the attack.

After being treated at a hospital in Barbados, Schwarzfeld was transported to the Civic Campus of the Ottawa hospital where she spent two weeks in a coma.

Schwarzfeld was recently elected as the national president of Canadian Hadassah-WIZO, a leading Jewish women's philanthropic organization.