Neighbour regrets not being at home when Rose Hall baby was killed

Rose Hall resident, Steven Williams in whose backyard a one-year-old child had her throat slashed, regrets that he decided to venture away from home on the day the incident occurred.

Saturday, February, 10, 2024, will be remembered as a day of tragedy for the Rose Hall community following the brutal death of baby Janae.

Around 5:00 p.m, the infant was reportedly kidnapped from the home of Jonessa Samuel, her mother, taken into Williams’ yard and killed at about 7:00 p.m.

In an interview with SEARCHLIGHT, Williams said he has been grief stricken since the incident occurred especially as he was not at home to help avert the tragedy.

“I cried. Up to this morning I still crying, even a while ago I’m still crying. It was very sad, very very sad.”

The main suspect, a 22-year-old male was hunted down by police and taken to the Rose Hall District Police Station on the evening of the murder.

When news of the incident began to circulate through Rose Hall and the surrounding communities, residents gathered outside the police station from around 9:00 p.m. Tensions flared, and some resorted to stoning the building and requested that police hand the suspect over to them. In an effort to force the crowd back, the police fired a number of warning shots in the air. While that was sufficient to scatter the crowd, they remained on the street until around 2’o’clock the following morning after which the suspect was eventually moved to another police station while investigations continued.

Williams said on Sunday morning, that he and other residents carried out a search in his backyard for evidence where they found the murder weapon.

“The part I played is this morning, when I realized- they say it’s here the incident took place- I came up early and went over there to talk to the mother so I came over along with my lady, call a witness also, and then we search around, couldn’t find the knife. Then after, my madam say, ‘here is the knife’ and all the blood was there.

“The guy took pictures and went to the police and report what we see. They came and collect evidence.”

The person who was initially alerted about the baby being taken from her mother’s residence was Lenroy Robertson. He spoke to police officers as well as Prime Minister, Dr Ralph Gonsalves who visited the family, providing them with a minute by minute account of the search he carried out in the district that evening.

Robertson explained how he checked all the nearby yards, including Williams’ before widening out to other areas. It was on a subsequent search that he stumbled on the infant’s body.

He also disclosed that he had been told of the suspect’s intention to harm the baby, saying that the infant was “a demon baby” and he had “to make a sacrifice”.

On Monday, February, 12, Robertson was charged with damaging the house where the suspect lives. He pleaded not guilty, was granted bail and returns to court on February 21.

Up to press time, no charges had been laid in relation to the baby’s killing.