First published in The Tribune under the byline, Young Man’s View.

To my good friend, little brother, son, former student of SC McPherson Mr George Wilbert Oliver. Gone but not forgotten. You always had a smile to share. We love you although you are no longer here with us. RIP. Our lost is Heaven’s gain. God bless all things well.

Posted on SC McPherson’s display board by Nat Adams (music teacher)
 
Now that the country’s murder count stands at a staggering 58, its undeniable that Nassau’s gone funky and that more than a handful of youngsters, particularly young men, have lost their collective minds.

So far this week, the nation has recorded two brutal murders, which were daringly committed in public spaces (town center mall and harbour bay). These days, murders are frequently carried out by aberrant young people who are audacious killers that have probably been in the fast track to Her Majesty’s prison (Fox Hill) since grade one and unfortunately were never rescued.

On Sunday, CV Bethel senior 17-year-old George Oliver became the 57th homicide victim for the year. According to George’s mother, the autopsy that was completed this week shows that he was shot twice. Reports state that George was shot at the town center mall, as he made his way to his grandmother’s house (where he lived). Outside the grisly manner in which George was killed, what makes his death even more ruthless is that he was gunned down on his way from a church service commemorating national youth month and wearing his school’s uniform.

According to George’s aunt, Precious Taylor, their family has learnt that he may have been accosted on Robinson road, beaten and possibly forced into the mall parking area where he was fatality shot.

“George used to walk a lot. He used to hang in his old neighborhood—Blue Hills estates—and he loved music. He just said how he wanted to be a cook and an electrician. Unfortunately, he was always searching for something as his dad was not really in his life,” Precious said in a grief stricken, barely audible voice.

She went on: “My mother almost passed out when she learnt of his death. The last thing he did was iron a dress for me to go to church—now I guess I will have to wear that dress at his funeral. That night (Sunday), he left his girlfriend’s place at about 7.43pm. She said he told her he was going to his grandmother, that he loved her and that he would call when he got there. He was killed at 7.50.”

George’s family affirmed that the police had several person’s in custody, but have since released them.
 
In reminiscing upon her son, Rochelle Oliver—George’s mother—lamented:

“I’m not going to polish him up, but the truth is, he was not a problem. Sure, he did things any normal teenager would! After his dad and I were divorced, he faced challenges and sometimes acted out—sometimes not going to school—but he was never in a gang and he never smoked or drank. After our divorce, he wanted to be the man of the house, wanting to work and help me out, but I encouraged him to stay in school.”

Rochelle fondly remembered her son as someone who was always cheerful and friendly, to whom people was attracted because of his glowing personality. She said that when George was murdered, he was headed home after visiting his friends (in his former neighborhood where she lives), as was his weekend routine.

When asked if George had any know enemies or may have been killed as payback over an outstanding grudge, Ms Taylor rejected such an idea. “If he used to steal or gangbang or whatever I could accept that he reaped what he sowed, but he didn’t. He lived with my mom and anytime she went to church he was there. Even if you were rowing him, he was smiling,” she said.

Ms. Taylor also expressed he displeasure with a news story published by another daily this week.

“I’m very upset about the piece that the Guardian printed. They changed things around and made it sound like he (George) did things that were terrible, it was made to seem almost like he deserved what happened,” she said.

George’s grandmother, Sandralee Taylor, was very emotional when she spoke about her grandson.

Mrs. Taylor somberly reflected on him, saying: “I don’t believe it yet. I look around every night for him. This young child went to church and never reach back! I used to drop him to school every morning and then give him a dollar for jitney. He was like my son—not just a grandson. I hadn’t seen him from morning devotion at our church until I went to the morgue.”

According to Mrs Taylor, when her daughter and George’s father were divorced, she and her husband intervened and took him under their wing as they felt that he would need a father figure in his life.

“I still take out food for him. Now, I have no more George to share things with, no more George to get me tea in the night, to shop and wash the dishes. He was a pleasant child, who smiled all the time. He even had a smile on his face lying there in the morgue,” she sadly recalled.

This grieving grandmother said that when she returned from church around 12am Sunday night, George was not home and so she called the hospital. Her daughter subsequently called the police station for information. According to her, the Central Detective Unit called around 2am Monday morning, requesting their presence at the hospital.

George did not die alone. His family said that he died in the arms of an off-duty police officer.

“We want to find him (the officer). We really want to find him to know what George’s last moments were like, to find out if he saw anything and if George said anything. We want to thank him,” George’s mother said.

The bereaved family claims that although no one is currently being held for George’s murder they will vigorous fight to see that justice is served. George’s grandmother says that the police have told them that they will examine Cost Rite’s (mall store) surveillance videos in their search for the young student’s killers.

The parents of many felonious children that are roaming the streets, taking lives and carrying out heinous crimes almost daily, are failing in their duties and should be held just as liable as their children for any offence that that child commits.           
 
Many of the troublesome, unruly brutes terrorizing our society could have been corrected if only a parent or guardian had intervened and disciplined them in their formative years. If a child could not take teaching, barking his behind with a stinging tamarind switch would send an unmistakable message!
 
Sadly, many parents in Nassau are catering to indiscipline and cloaking their uncontrollable children!

E-Mail Adrian.