Residents of Sandy Bay express mixed feelings towards murder suspect

Some residents of Sandy Bay, the village from which Jurani Baptiste hails, say that the accusations made of the 18-year-old are shocking and frightening.

The incident has also aroused the anger of villagers, with one young man commenting, “how people going look at people from out here now. Them done don’t really like we already; now all ah we going look as if we the same.”{{more}}

Baptiste achieved notoriety this week as a person of interest in four murders that took place between Sunday night and Monday morning.

SEARCHLIGHT visited the North Windward village on Tuesday afternoon to get a feel of the mood of villagers about what has gone down in history as the most violent four hours in modern Vincentian history.

Persons spoke, but under conditions of anonymity.

A family member of the troubled young man said that he feels real bad about the situation.

“He was a bright youth, so we must feel bad…I know he since I seven years old. I feel bad,” said the youngster.

He described Jurani as an excellent cricketer, who played for the Under-15 and Under-17 Windwards cricket team in, among other places, Grenada, St Lucia, St Kitts and Dominica.

The male relative said that he does not think that Jurani took his education seriously, but he played cricket extremely well and could have reached somewhere with that.

Another villager said that when he heard what had happened, he could not believe it. He noted that Jurani was a bit troublesome, but not like this.

Erna Matthias, Jurani’s godmother, also said that she never expected this.

“…On Saturday, he passed by me and asked me for a slipper and I said I didn’t have any and he said he going by his father.

It’s a sad situation; as a child, he always respect me and call me Jenna. He use to come for money when he going play cricket and I like the idea how he use to play cricket and I use to give him the money. I don’t know what went wrong,” stressed Matthias.

She said that she is extremely sorry for the families that lost loved ones.

However, another male who knows Jurani said that he expected anything from the youngster, as he was extremely disruptive in school and on his overseas cricketing trips and would cause chaos.

“People know he was evil and they use to pick up for he,” said the angry man.

Also speaking under condition of anonymity, a medical practitioner who knows Jurani thinks that he suffers from psychosis.

According to an online health magazine called Healthline, “Psychosis is characterized by an impaired relationship with reality. And it is a symptom of serious mental disorders. People who are psychotic may have either hallucinations or delusions.

“The person experiencing psychosis may also have thoughts that are contrary to actual evidence. These thoughts are known as delusions. Some people with psychosis may also experience loss of motivation and social withdrawal.

“…These experiences can be frightening. They may also cause people who are experiencing psychosis to hurt themselves or others.”(LC)