Teacher: William Knibb boy fought me over guard ring

WESTERN BUREAU:

Guard rings are so popular and revered among some students that a schoolboy fought off a William Knibb High teacher who tried to confiscate the contraband.

On Monday, 16-year-old William Knibb student, Camal Hall, succumbed to stab wounds inflicted by a schoolmate in a conflict over a guard ring.

A 16-year-old boy was charged with murder on Tuesday. He will face the Family Court on Friday.

“It is a serious thing. On one occasion I tried to take a ring from a student. It was a fight,” Jeremy Downer, a teacher at the Martha Brae, Trelawny, school said in reference to an earlier altercation with another boy.

“He said to me, ‘You want to expose me’,” Downer revealed, further disclosing that the fight on Monday was a carryover from a feud that had started last Friday.

Guard rings are believed to hold supernatural power for the wearer, providing protection from harm and even death.

Monday’s incident, which has received nationwide publicity, has left the school and wider community of Trelawny in shock and mourning, prompting administrators to begin counselling sessions at Tuesday morning’s devotion.

Head of the Trelawny Police Division, Superintendent Carlos Russell, implored students to temper their anger.

“Emotions got out of control and a life is lost and a youngster is in custody. Nothing can be done to bring back Camal,” Russell said while addressing some of the 1,200 students who attend William Knibb.

Among those present were the institution’s board chairman, the Rev Jonathan Hemmings, former police chaplain the Rev Courtney Walters, pastors Owen Brown, Wayne Smith, and Delton Collins, along with representatives from the Child Development Agency and Victim Support Unit (VSU).

Wendy Campbell-Titus from the VSU told the students to avoid any thought of reprisal.

“Control your emotions and find a positive in this tragic incident. Do not bottle up your emotions. Cry if you feel like crying. Sing a song which has positive words. Remember Khamal in the good times,” Campbell-Titus urged.

Georgia Waugh-Richards, a former Jamaica Teachers’ Association president, called for sympathy.

“We have to show our sympathy on this sad occasion. It not only affects the students, but also the teachers,” Waugh-Richards said.

A distraught classmate of Camal’s said the incident has left him traumatised.

“I cannot sleep nor eat since yesterday,” the 10th-grader told Smith during a session.

According to a student who lives in Clark’s Town, who is also a neighbour of the alleged offender, the accused’s mother fainted when she got news of the stabbing.

Camal was popular at William Knibb as he was the goalkeeper on the school’s daCosta Cup football team.

The team’s coach, Dwight Jeremiah, said Camal was loved and had ambitions of becoming a professional footballer.

“I am struggling to speak to the team,” said Jeremiah.

“Camal was so loved. He was a determined player who had the ambition to make it to become a professional. Not many people know he was an all-rounder, who was a gifted high jumper.”