Murder is a horrible crime, but the murder of a child is even more horrific. Last year the lives of six children, ages four through 17, were cut short by violence in The Bahamas. Two were killed with parents, two while playing outside, one by his own friends and another in a targeted attack. Here are the child victims:
Jason Joseph, 17
Jason Joseph, a 17-year-old high school dropout, was gunned down on Rahming Street in Fox Hill on May 5. He was walking home after buying breakfast when a gunman shot him multiple times. Police have charged Nashon Rolle, 23, with his murder.
Lorencia Simmons-Walkes, 10
The fifth grade student at Sybil Strachan Primary School who dreamed of becoming a teacher was playing outside her home in Bel Air Estates when she was hit by a stray bullet on May 29. Lorencia died in hospital on June 7.
Police said three men opened fire on a group of men at a neighboring home. Peron Bain died on the scene and Lorencia and Leroy Sands were rushed to hospital with gunshot injuries.
Police have charged Donald Cox and Delanzo Cartwright Jr with the incident.
Reyes Williams, 7
The student at Thelma Gibson Primary School was playing outside his mother’s home in Nassau Village when he was struck by a stray bullet on September 20. Police said that the killers opened fire into the yard where Reyes was playing, but missed their intended target. His murder remains unsolved.
Lavard McKenzie, 17
He was found in bushes near his home in Miller’s Heights on August 30, three days after he was reported missing. Security camera footage showed Lavard leaving his home with two friends around 10am on August 27.
A search team found him beaten almost beyond recognition. Police charged his friends 20-year-old Franklyn Glinton and a 17-year-old with his murder. They are both free on bail.
Ednique Wallace, 8
The student at T G Glover Primary was murdered with her mother, Alicia Wallace. They were fatally shot inside her mother’s apartment at Stack Avenue in Nassau Village on September 28. Police have charged Wallace’s ex-boyfriend Trevon Stevens, an ex-con with a history of gun violence against women with the murders. Several days before her murder, Wallace had accused Stevens of rape.
Jeremy Green, 4
The toddler was murdered on October 4 along with his father Jamaric Green, who had ties to the One Order gang, in Rock Sound, Eleuthera. Green, also known as “Big Meech”, had relocated to Eleuthera from New Providence shortly after his 2018 acquittal for the murder of Javan Forbes. Green, his wife and their three young children had gone to check on a home under construction when they were ambushed by gunmen. Green was holding his son when the killers opened fire. Their murders remain unsolved.
