CHILD MONTH ENDS IN HORROR
Mom charged with neglect as 7-y-o son found dead
Published:Wednesday | June 1, 2022 | 12:14 AMHopeton Bucknor/Gleaner Writer
A St James woman who was taken into custody on Tuesday morning in connection with the death of her seven-year-old son has been charged with child neglect and was remanded until July 6.
The accused woman, 29-year-old Queen-Ann Spence, of Johnson Common in Bickersteth, was charged in the afternoon and taken before the St James Family Court following the death of her son, Hayden Rose, a first-grader of the community’s primary and infant school.
The police have also confirmed that Spence is also under investigation for the death of her six-month-old daughter last year.
Reports by the Cambridge police are that an alarm was raised shortly after 8 a.m. on Tuesday after the child’s body, which was in an advanced state of decomposition, was discovered outside his home.
Detectives discovered the child lying face down in bushes in the banana field with what appeared to be a chop wound to the back of the head.
Further investigation led to a bloodstained mattress in an upstairs room of the family house.
The pain was palpable in Bickersteth Tuesday as the death marked a grim end to the commemoration of May as Child Month.
Residents in the community say they believe that young Hayden may have been killed late Sunday night and his body dumped at the location.
A community member who told reporters that he was a close relative of both the mother and the child said he was angry at the manner of Hayden’s death.
The man lashed out at Spence, claiming that she had reported that she hadn’t seen her son all night Monday yet still retired to the comfort of her bed.
Robert Gordon, principal of Bickersteth Primary and Infant School, said that the community convulsed in shock when news of the tragedy emerged.
Gordon said that reports from Hayden’s teacher indicated that he was a promising child with the potential of becoming an outstanding student.
“At this time, the school is in mourning. It is a very sad day for us at the school,” said Gordon.
“We are trying our best to comfort the students, and a team of us will be going to the family home sometime today,” Gordon stated.