A 12-year-old Grade 6 student of Lowmans Leeward Anglican School was on Monday charged with the murder of 15-year-old Moesha Primus, who died Thursday night after being stabbed in the left side of her chest.
Primus, a Form 2 student at Intermediate High School in Kingstown, sustained a stab wound to the left side of her chest during an altercation at Campden Park around 5 p.m. on Thursday, police say.
She was taken to the Milton Cato Memorial Hospital where she was pronounced dead at 6:30 p.m.
The accused student, whose name is not being released because of her age, appeared before the Family Court, where the charge was read to her in the presence of her mother and father.
She was not required to plead to the indictable offence, and a preliminary inquiry has been set for Sept. 11.
The student is being represented by lawyers Samantha Robertson, Israel Bruce, and Mikhail Charles.
I-Witness News understands that the lawyers will re-appear in court on Friday, where they will seek bail for the girl.
Sources say that the legal team is concerned about the “accommodation” of the child, who is said to have been held in a windowless room at the Criminal Investigation Department in Kingstown since she was taken into police custody Thursday night.
St. Vincent and the Grenadines does not have a facility dedicated to the detention of minor charged with criminal offences.
The lawyers are said to have raised with members of the Police Force concerns about whether the conditions in which the student was being kept were humane.
A well-placed source told I-Witness News that a legal determination could be made soon about where the child should stay while the matter goes through the nation’s courts.
I-Witness News understands that placing the child in the “regular prison” will violate her rights under international conventions to which St. Vincent and the Grenadines is signatory.
She should not be released to her parents for sure, people who socialized her in way that lead her to be able to murder someone; one of her lawyers or someone appointed by the court should take custody of her until the trial is over.
Bet she gets a conditional discharge or some such rather than the Islamic sharia justice she deserves for this heinous crime.
This one yah hard fuh boil. I am torn between the idea of getting justice for the deceased and the fact that we are seeking justice against a 12 year old.
It’s going to be very interesting to see how the legal system handle this case.
I believe this youth should be given all the help possible while serving some time, whether it’s home confinement or some specially arranged detention center. I don’t believe we should be applying sharia law to anyone much less a 12 year old, such suggestions are absolutely ridiculous. This is a most unfortunate tragedy, however I don’t believe for one moment that this youth meant to kill the 15 year old but there must be some sort of accountability and this 12 year old will have to live the rest of her life with this stigma of taking a life.
“Home confinement” in what may well be a dysfunctional, abusive home?
If the charge was murder then it must be premeditated murder in the first degree, a more serious form of homicide. Moreover this young lady went to this girls home with the intention to cause serious bodily harm, maybe even to take a life, and this was not an act of self defense according to the facts.
Although Im saddened by this whole ordeal, an innocent life was taken, and I cant agree with any consideration of bail, not even any leniency or compassion because of age. I can only feel anger and pain like if it was my own child. This should not have gone down like this. So sad, real sad!