Shattered lives

Principals at two Corporate Area institutions are seeking to navigate a period of mourning while safeguarding against a school-on-school clash in the aftermath of the fatal stabbing of an 11-year-old boy on Tuesday.

The deceased, Amari Coley, of Denham Town High, was reportedly stabbed repeatedly by a 14-year-old girl from Holy Trinity High.

Yvette Richards-Thompson, the principal at Denham Town, told The Gleaner yesterday that she was keen on meeting with her counterpart from Holy Trinity.

“Sometimes when issues like this arise there can be school-on-school conflict. So I don’t wait on anything to happen. I tend to try pre-empt things, and so I want to go by Holy Trinity. I’m just waiting on the ministry personnel to tell me what time we gonna meet there,” Richards-Thompson said from her Spanish Town Road office.

She told The Gleaner that there was definitely a need to visit Holy Trinity High.

“The principal and I speak so much. I’m gonna swing by there shortly, and I am also gonna speak to my students. I met with them this (yesterday) morning, and we did deliver the news to some of them. Those who were in need of counselling, we made sure they got counselling. We did the large group, we did the one-on-one, and we did based on what was needed. We also gave support to the staff,” Richards-Thompson said.

The Gleaner understands that some students said that they wanted to take matters into their own hands, and teachers were advising them not to.

“The board of management have been informed, and they are giving support as well. So it’s just a matter of us coordinating on a school level … . I want to come back in time to meet with my students because I also have to caution them. You know emotions are high, and all of that, and sometimes we kind of have to guide those emotions to ensure that at least they understand,” Richards-Thompson said.

“Maybe for the rest of the week we have to put them through some programmes just to ensure that they are able to cope. A lot of times the challenge is that students like ours, persons expect them to deal with stuff like those … . They actually do have feelings, and they are children … . We are gonna ensure they get all the support they need … . We will get through it. We are resilient … . When things like this happen, the students always rally around each other.”

Stabbed with comb

The Kingston Western police reported that personnel from the Beat Officer Patrol Division were on patrol when they saw a group of persons gathered at the intersection of West Street and West Queen Street and went to enquire.

The police personnel were reportedly told that Amari was in an argument with the suspect, and he allegedly punched her in the head.

Acting on impulse, the suspect reportedly spun around and used a plastic comb with a metal end that she was using to comb her hair to stab Amari in the chest repeatedly.

The 11-year-old was assisted to the Kingston Public Hospital by persons at the scene but died while undergoing treatment.

The female student was seen fleeing the scene and was held by the police and placed in custody at the South Camp Juvenile Correctional and Remand Centre for Girls.

The Gleaner understands that the metal part of the comb was removed by a doctor while treating Amari and handed over to the police. The plastic end of the comb was handed over to the police by the suspect.

Richards-Thompson told The Gleaner that she was sombre on Tuesday evening when looking at her teachers’ expressions and considering how much progress Amari had been making.

“Amari would have started just this year. We first met him when he came to register as a PEP (Primary Exit Profile) placement, and we decided to enrol him in summer school because he came the day before summer school started. He was a whole ball of energy. But by the time summer school ended, he was just on top of his game,” Richards-Thompson said.

The principal said Amari had a troubled past in primary school but was making strides in behaviour and academics.

He scored 87 per cent in a recent integrated science test, but the joy was short-lived.

“He was just so proud of himself by his own words. He was improving. He said he was getting better, he was getting smarter … . He was just so proud of himself,” Richards-Thompson said.

She told The Gleaner that for a child in whom they had had such high hopes, it was particularly jarring to see his life taken in such a manner.

“The worst part is that it’s not one life that’s lost. It’s two. It’s another child who would have committed this act, and by extension, she is now suffering because she now has to live with the fact that she took a life. Her family will now have to give her support,” Richards-Thompson said.

She said she was very impressed by how much support each of the teachers had been giving Amari in their own way.

One teacher openly said she could not sleep when she got the news of his passing and remembered the joyful mood he was in on Tuesday, hours before the fatal incident.

Amari’s aunt, Kerry-Ann Nelson, told The Gleaner that she had been crying constantly since learning of his passing.

“Mi bawl whole night. Mi lose me nephew at 11 years old. I went to the morgue to look at him. He was a jovial person, comedic, and love TikTok. To be honest, I don’t know the reason for the conflict,” Nelson said, adding that her nephew would have turned 12 in December.

The Ministry of Education, Skills, Youth & Information has expressed sorrow over the tragic stabbing death.

Additionally, the ministry said it was deeply concerned about an incident at Oberlin High School in St Andrew West Rural, where a female student was attacked by another female student at the entrance of the school on Tuesday.

The injured student suffered multiple facial injuries and is currently receiving medical care.

“These incidents are both tragic and alarming. We must come together as a community to ensure the safety and well-being of our students. Violence has no place in our schools. We will continue working with the Ministry of National Security and other MDAs (ministries, departments, and agencies) to create a culture of peace in places of learning,” said Dr Dana Morris Dixon, minister of education, skills, youth, and information.

Morris Dixon said the ministry’s Region One office had dispatched a specialised team to provide grief counselling and psychological support to the affected students, staff, and families at Denham Town High School and Oberlin High School.

Additionally, she said a full investigation was under way into both matters and that the ministry was awaiting the official reports to ascertain further details.

Morris Dixon, who, only this month, took charge of the education portfolio, has also committed to completing a review of the School Safety Policy.

andre.williams@gleanerjm.com