This country on Monday recorded its 24th homicide this year when the life of a 16-year-old youth drained from him through wounds reportedly inflicted with a pair of scissors.
The stab wounds, to the back and neck, were reportedly inflicted by a man, said to be in his 20s.
And, as another family mourns, the nation is again collectively asking “Why?”
The death of Terrance Junior John, also known as “Hot Skull” of Greiggs, sometime after 3 p.m. Monday, was not only tragic because of his age.
He died in the arms of his older brother, Lawson, who made a futile attempt to apply pressure to the wounds that are believed to have led to John’s death.
A photo circulated on social media on Monday shows the dying youth, dressed only in underpants and a cap.
His body is crimson — covered in his own blood.
He holds limply to the patio of a building and supported by his brother, who is making a valiant effort to stem the flow of blood from Terrance’s neck.
As the blood flows out of Terrance’s body, it paints red the ground around him.
John’s death brings to three the number of persons slain over the past month.
And, the nature of the killings has left the nation with more question than answers about homicides in St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
The killings do not stand up to the theories, advanced by some, that they are in some way related to the nation’s economic situation.
An I-Witness News analysis of data two years ago suggests no direct relationship between the performance of the nation’s economy and homicides.
In the December 2011 analysis, data from the previous 15 years suggested that the better the economy performs, the more killings there are in St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
However, our conclusion then was that the raw numbers were not enough to say if one causes the other.
Further, unlike the killing on Monday, which seemed to have resulted from the escalation of an altercation, the brute use of lethal force in two slayings in September suggests well-planned executions.
On Sept. 19, 28-year-old Recardo “Smokey” Roberts was gunned down in Kingstown Park.
Police are said to have recovered over 20 spent shell casings at the scene.
On Sept. 5, 36-year-old Velorne Samuel, the secretary at the Family Court, died after being shot multiple times while doing her laundry at her home in Evesham around 8 p.m.
Finding an answer to the question “Why?” is important to the nation, but even more so for the 10 children who have been left without a parent as a result of killings over the last two months.
Roberts left behind three children — ages 8,7, and 2 years old.
Samuel had three children — ages 11, 8, and 6 years old.
Further, on Aug. 24, three other children lost their mother, 32-year-old Amy-Ann Tittle, when she because a homicide victim.
Tittle’s children are also at risk of losing their father, Inshan Humphrey, who is charged with the murder of their mother, a crime that took place before their very eyes.
Tittle died of chop wounds to the head and neck, allegedly inflicted by Humprey during an altercation.
Meanwhile, a girl in Troumaca celebrated her birthday without a father when she turned 8 years old on Aug. 17.
She will celebrate all future birthdays without her father.
Her father, 47-year-old Owen Pompey, also of Troumaca, was killed in the mountains of North Leeward on Aug. 12.
Ian Gould, a 35-year-old farmer of Lowmans Leeward, is charged with Pompey’s death.
this is sad people, this is why i support the death penalty, eye for an eye,
I am glad you didn’t show the entire body. There is no need for these gruesome pictures. I am wondering when the government and the opposition are going to sit down and try to come up with a solution to these murders. There has to be some solution to this mess. This is a sad state for my beloved country. Again this brings up the word discipline and thats why Id like to see the return to the disciplinary actions that molded the youths many years ago. There must be consequences for those who commit offences, no matter how small.
When are Vincentians going to wake up and realize that no one is safe with these criminal minded people running around? When are they going to demand that the politicians do something anything to stem the tide of murders? If and when its their turn, it would be too late, because they cant talk then. Now is the time to demand action. It has to be the death penalty, then so be it, but do something and fast.
By the way I-Witness doesnt have the resources to investigate whether crime increases due to the economic situation on the island. Dont go out on a limb from which you cant crawl back.
What is the root cause of all this madness ? Is the question that urgently need to be answered .
24 in 9 months? Pro-rata, that’s 32 for the year….. and that number puts SVG in the worst 10% for murders in the whole world!
RODGER, I spent many years in Nigeria, there they have the death penalty. What happens is if you are robbed with violence of your cell phone or wrist watch, you are likely to be killed so as you cannot identify the assailant. If you are stuck up at gun point they will kill you for the same reasons. Armed robbery and violent crimes bring very long jail terms or the death penalty, consequently no one survives the crime.