Another Jamaican family is grappling with the tragic loss of a young child, this time following the suspected drowning of a five-year-old girl in Clarendon.
Preliminary reports say a mother in Rocky Point found her daughter, identified as Rackeema Williams, in an open pit located on their property on Sunday. Investigators believe the child may have fallen into the pit.
Rackeema’s mother found her when she realised that she was missing. The mother became alarmed after realising the child was no longer inside the house. After making checks throughout the home without success, she reportedly began searching the yard in an effort to locate her daughter.
During the search, the mother is said to have observed that a stone typically placed over a manhole cover on the premises was missing. This raised immediate concern, prompting the mother to check the manhole. When she went close to the pit, she came upon the shocking sight of her daughter’s body inside.
The young girl was quickly removed and rushed to the hospital in an urgent attempt to save her life. However, the child was pronounced dead. The circumstances surrounding the incident remain under active investigation as police work to determine exactly how the tragedy unfolded.
Rackeema’s death has added to a growing list of young lives lost in Jamaica this year. While her passing is believed to be the result of an accidental drowning, other families across the island have been mourning children killed in violent or sudden incidents.
Late last month, a three-year-old named Jace ‘Zaza’ Pinnock was killed by gunmen during a home invasion in Denham Town, Kingston. The attack also left his father, Kiero Pinnock, dead and his eight-year-old brother injured.
Weeks earlier, in Manchester, a four-year-old girl was shot alongside her father after gunmen ambushed their vehicle. The child, Saniyah O’Brien, died from her injuries while her father was treated at the hospital.
In another tragic event at the start of the year, a four-year-old boy, Romaine Bowman, died in an alleged shootout involving security forces and gunmen in Granville, St James. The child was in bed when a bullet entered his home and killed him on the spot.