CPFSA condemns ‘unconscionable and callous’ Denham Town attack

The Child Protection and Family Services Agency (CPFSA) says it is expressing profound outrage and sorrow at the killing of a three-year-old boy and the injury of his eight-year-old brother and their father in a gun attack at their home in Denham Town, Kingston early this morning.

The agency described the incident as a senseless act of violence.

CPFSA Chief Executive Officer Laurette Adams-Thomas said the incident is a devastating reminder of the growing brutality affecting Jamaica’s children.

“The killing of a three-year-old child in such a vicious and callous manner is beyond heartbreaking; it is unconscionable. When our babies become victims of gun violence, it signals a dangerous moral decline within our society. We cannot normalise or become numb to these atrocities. Our children are to be protected, nurtured and cherished, not harmed and killed like animals,” Adams-Thomas said in a statement on Saturday.

She noted that the tragedy follows closely on the heels of another devastating incident less than two weeks ago, in which a four-year-old girl in Manchester was killed in a gun attack that also left her father injured.

“These repeated attacks against our youngest and most vulnerable citizens should shake us to our core as a nation. Every child’s life is sacred. As a country, we must examine what it says about us when our children are murdered and buried before they have had a chance to live. We all share a collective responsibility to safeguard Jamaica’s children,” she added.

The CPFSA is urging anyone with information regarding the incident or the whereabouts of those responsible to come forward and provide full cooperation to the police to ensure that they are brought to justice.

The agency said its first responders will engage the family to provide grief counselling and any additional social interventions required to support them during this traumatic period.

“Even as we speak out against this horrific act, the CPFSA is equally committed to standing with this family in their time of grief. Our first responders will be working closely with them to provide grief counselling and any other necessary psychosocial support to help them navigate this unimaginable loss. While we cannot undo what has been done, we can ensure that they are not left to bear this pain alone,” Adams-Thomas said.

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