SHATTERED

Prudence Griffiths could barely stand, her body trembling with grief as she left the scene on Melvin Avenue in Gregory Park, St Catherine on Thursday. It was there, inside a long-abandoned vehicle, that her worst fears were confirmed – the badly decomposed body of her eight-year-old son, Navardo Blackburn, was discovered.

Navardo, an autistic child known affectionately as ‘Najay’, had been missing since Friday, May 23, after he left home to play in the neighbourhood but never returned.

For four agonising days, relatives and community members scoured the area, hoping against hope. That hope was shattered Tuesday around 3 p.m., when a strong odour, swarming flies, and maggots drew their attention to a disabled Honda motor car that residents said had been parked at the location for years.

Inside, beneath a piece of cardboard weighed down by a plastic crate, lay the lifeless body of Navardo.

“Mi feel weak out. Mi don’t know how mi a go get over dis,” Griffiths sobbed to The Gleaner, clinging to her daughter for support. “Suppose yuh see him face how it black. Black! This no just so-so suh; something deh behind this.”

Her voice trembled with anguish and disbelief, insisting that her son – who she described as curious but cautious – would never willingly climb into a locked car.

“Him nah gonna inna no car and lock up himself. Him nah do it. Him nah do that. A whole heap a car park up which part we deh and him nah go deh so … . Knowing Najay, him nah go in a no car and lock up himself,” Griffiths said.

For Griffiths, the way Navardo was found only deepened her suspicion that foul play was involved.

“The cardboard was over him and the crate was on top of the cardboard. People know [what happened] and not talking,” the grief-stricken mother said through tears.

At first, the decomposed state of the body led some to believe it was that of an adult. But Griffiths, overcome with grief, positively identified her son.

A police officer at the scene confirmed that the extent of decomposition – intensified by the heat inside the vehicle – had distorted his features.

“The maggots lined the face and resembled a beard, and parts of his body were swollen because of the hot car and decomposed state,” said a police officer on the ground.

St Catherine East Central Member of Parliament Alando Terrelonge was present as investigators cordoned off the area and began combing for evidence.

“The whole situation is really, really tragic. We still don’t know what happened as yet. The police have taken him to the funeral home and the autopsy will be done,” he said.

According to the police, Navardo was last seen playing at a field on Queens Avenue around 3 p.m. the day he went missing.

Senior investigators told The Gleaner that no stone would be left unturned as they carry out their probe.

A large crowd gathered on Melvin Avenue as news of the tragic discovery spread. Emotions ran high. Mothers clutched their children tighter, warning them to never wander off without informing an adult.

The heartbreak is all the more poignant during Jamaica’s observance of Child Month – a time meant to celebrate and protect the nation’s youth.

andre.williams@gleanerjm.com