Shocked community still can’t understand why 2-year-old was killed
By: Sasha-Gay Lobban
One minute little Jaheim Cooper was playing with other children in his yard, as his doting grandmother looked on. The next minute a man had a knife at the baby’s throat. Then he cut. The grandmother tried to use her dress to stop the spewing blood. Though the St Ann’s Bay Hospital is not ten minutes away, Jaheim wouldn’t make it. Grief has descended on the community of Lewis and many are asking why? What caused a man to do this to an innocent baby?
The answer for some is demon possession and end of world events. Others say the man was mentally ill. This is in dispute.
The question is being asked and there are no answers out of the events of Thursday August 21, in Lewis District, near Priory, St Ann.
Dead is two-year old Jaheim Cooper, affectionately called ‘Jay’ of Lewis District, St Ann. Police have in custody a man who is alleged to have held the boys neck on an engine block and cut it. No one in the community can give a reason for the attack.
It has been reported that the man who attacked and killed the toddler is mentally ill. However, Jaheim’s family disputes those claims. Jaheim’s aunt, Stacy says the alleged attacker was well known to the family and did not show any signs of mental illness.
When the North Coast Times visited Jaheim’s home, there were still waves of crying and grief as relatives tried to come to grips with the death of their beloved ‘Jay’. Jaheim lived with his grandmother, aunts and cousins in a family yard in Lewis.
TRAGEDY
Thursday was a typical day for Jaheim’s extended family until tragedy struck. Jaheim woke up early in the morning and played all day as he usually did with his cousins and other relatives. His grand-mother, Jennifer Williams said Jaheim woke up, played with his puppy and uncle (another child) and drove playfully with an old steering wheel in the yard. His family says he loved to drive and make the noise of a car. However, later in the evening at about 4:30, little did Jaheim’s grand-mother Jennifer know, that devastation was about to take place.
WATCHING CHILDREN
Jennifer said she sat in the yard, on a bench watching the children when she heard an uproar on the nearby road. Some residents were chasing a man up the street. “Mi sit down and hear pure noise down the road, and when mi look, mi see some people a run down a man,” Ms Williams said.
She said it was a man well known to the family who had lived in the community all his life. He was also very close to the family, as the man’s brother lived in a section of the yard where Jaheim lived. She said she watched the crowd chase the man. The man was allegedly running from the crowd because he reportedly cut another man on his throat. They said the two had a dispute. But that man says he had no dispute, the attack was sudden as he had been in a bar when the unexpected attack came and his throat was cut.
According to Jennifer, when the man ran up the road, he turned back, ran into the yard where Jaheim was playing, grabbed him and cut his throat. “After him run go up the road, him turn back and run inna the yard and me shout out, don’t touch him! Him hold Jaheim and cut him throat. Next thing mi see was blood spewing and I run out there and use mi clothes to put over him,” the grand-mother said. Two other children and an aunt also witnessed the ordeal. The family members say the children have been severely traumatised by the incident. One of the children, Jaheim’s play mate, is speaking very little, after witnessing the killing.
DISBELIEF
When the Times tried to speak with the parents of Jaheim, family members said the two were not talking to anyone. The parents, Kerina Pearce and Calvin Cooper, both in their twenties, are grieving heavily from the loss of their only child. The family said Jaheim was the life of the family because he was filled with excitement, energy and was very advanced for his age. “He was here for a purpose. Though short lived, he filled our lives with happiness and joy,” said a family friend Keriese.
“I’m still sitting at home waiting to see Jaheim appear, because he is not dead. No he’s not dead. It cannot be true,” Stacy, Jaheim’s aunt said. She has not yet come to grips with his death. “All I want to know is why would he want to hurt an innocent child?” She asked. She showed several videos of Jaheim that she recorded, in his playful mood, with his steering wheel, driving around the room and the yard.
ATTACKER
The alleged attacker was caught and beaten by residents of the community but was later rescued by police. He received blows to his head and the rest of his body. He was treated at hospital and released into police custody, Thursday night
The man who is believed to be in his forties had been living in Lewis all his life. According to residents and his brother, he worked on a ship over a decade ago, from which he was fired. However, his brother Glenroy Archer who is also a close friend of Jaheim’s family says he showed no signs of mental illness. He too is questioning what may have led to such an attack. The police say they are still questioning the accused and he is expected to be charged soon.
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