‘I WISH I DIDN’T HAVE KIDS’

WESTERN BUREAU:

Five months after her 15-year-old son was fatally stabbed at Irwin High in St James, Stacey-Ann Dunkley’s faith in the justice system was shattered on Monday as the case against an accused schoolmate was dismissed.

A tearful Dunkley told The Gleaner that her son, Raniel Plummer, was killed with a stab to his heart while trying to avoid a fight at the school.

“ ... Dem tell pure lies on my son and because my son is not here to defend himself,” said Dunkley. “I am not swearing for my son because I wasn’t there. I am not at school every day because I work, so I [will] not say that he wasn’t in any gangs. I am not going to say that he didn’t have a knife. I am not going to say all of that, but my son was stabbed in his heart.”

Dunkley said she had expected the schoolmate, who was 14 years old at the time of the incident, to serve time for his role in the fatal stabbing. However, she was left dumbfounded during Monday’s court hearing.

To make matters worse, she said, her grief process has been “extremely difficult” because of the lack of an apology from the former accused’s family.

“Dem let him go free like my son a dog. Mi carry him fi nine months and mi tek care of him fi 15 years and you tek my son life and you did not even get one year? Mi hate Jamaica and mi wish mi never born inna Jamaica. Mi wish mi never have any children at all because mi wouldn’t deh go through all this pain. Mi sad from the 18th of April till now.

“Mi look like duppy and [the former accused boy’s] mother was glowing. I just can’t understand how this is possible. How could I send my son to school, and another child stabbed and killed him? One stab in his heart and not even an apology from his parents. If my son killed somebody’s child, I would [at least] write a postcard and give someone to give to them,” she told The Gleaner.

Attorney-at-law Maurice McCurdy, who represented the former accused, told The Gleaner on Monday that both a murder charge and a possesion of an offensive weapon charge were dropped at the St James Family Court.

He said that the court upheld submissions arguing that the schoolboy was innocent.

“The courts do not sit in a vacuum and must take the fulsomeness of the law and the facts into account to discharge its duty. Sometimes, however, the suspect is the victim and the deceased is the author of his own demise,” he stated.

The attorney, however, expressed sympathy to the family of the deceased.

“Though the defence is pleased that the court found favour with our submissions in law, there is nothing to celebrate about this case. A loss of a child is a major blow to any nation. It has never been lost on us that a family is grieving,” McCurdy said.

Raniel was reportedly attacked by a group of schoolboys after exiting the school grounds on April 18. The St James police stated that he was stabbed in the chest by the 14-year-old male colleague during the assault. Raniel was transported to the Cornwall Regional Hospital, where he died.

In the meantime, Dunkley said she has been struggling with the memories of the fateful day. She explained that after answering what she thought was her usual call from Raniel, she was informed of the tragedy.

“He called me and said, ‘Mommy, wah boy stab me inna mi chest’.”

Dunkley said she rushed to the hospital hoping that her son would survive.

She added that she was able to share a few words with Raniel before he was taken away for surgery. However, she did not anticipate that it would have been her last time talking to him.

“I said, ‘Raniel, Mommy loves you so much and I will be outside waiting for you. I am praying for you and you are going to be okay’. When mi tell him that, mi never know say him did go dead. Mi just tell him that because I am a God-fearing person.”

While fighting back tears, Dunkley told The Gleaner that she will never forget the words from a doctor at Cornwall Regional. She said that those words have forever changed the trajectory of her life.

“Mi hear when the doctor say, ‘Ms Dunkley, we tried everything to save your son, but the knife went down too deep in his heart and we couldn’t save him’. I felt like I wanted to die,” Dunkley lamented.

However, through the pain, Dunkley still expressed good wishes for the former accused boy and his family.

“He’s a child. I forgive him and I love him. I hope that he makes something good of his life. I hope that he does not mess up again. He got the chance to live, but my son didn’t, so I hope that [he] does something good with his life. But his parents? His parents are not nice because I could not sleep at night knowing that my son killed another child and not apologise to them. Even to say, ‘I am sorry, I know I cannot bring back your son, but I am sorry for what my son did’,” she told The Gleaner.

rochelle.clayton@gleanerjm.com