BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – THE cause of death of little Kadeem Pereira, whose lifeless body was found yesterday morning (Oct. 7) on a plot of land with overgrown grass and small trees near to his Godwin’s Estate home, is inconclusive.
Information reaching SKNVibes states that this morning Resident Pathologist Dr. Dora Marinela Morales performed an autopsy on Pereira’s body but could not determine the cause of death.
According to reliable sources, Barbadian Pathologist Dr. Stephen Jones is unavailable at this time and arrangements are being made to have another specialist flown into St. Kitts to conduct a follow-up autopsy.
Pereira, who would have celebrated his 10th birth anniversary yesterday, went missing on Saturday (Oct. 5) and a massive search for him was launched on the following night by police officers in ‘B’ Division.
The officers were joined by the K-9 Unit of the Island Constables Division of Ross University of Veterinary Medicine along with Prego, the police dog, but it was not until yesterday morning that the child’s decomposing body was found just a few hundred feet from his home.
He was pronounced dead by the District Medical Officer who was summoned to the scene, while officers of the Crime Scene Unit and the Violent Crime Unit conducted investigations.
According to his grandfather, who goes by the alias ‘Baka’, Pereira was sent to a shop in the community sometime after 6:00 p.m. to purchase Kool Aid and sugar but did not return home.
This publication spoke to Lionel ‘Ken’ Rogers, proprietor of the shop in which the lad went to purchase the items, who was said to be the last person to have seen Pereira before his disappearance.
“It was after six Saturday. He came by the shop and bought sugar and some Kool Aid,” Rogers said, adding that he did not witness anything strange on that day but recalled that the boy’s mother had visited his shop on the following day enquiring about his whereabouts.
“I didn’t check to see if he went up or down or did I see anything strange. The next morning his mother came and ask me if I saw her son, and I told her after he bought the Kool Aid and sugar he left the shop.”
A release from the Royal St. Christopher and Nevis Police Force stated that Commissioner Celvin ‘CG’ Walwyn wishes to publicly extend condolences to the family of the deceased.
“The Police Force is dedicated to finding exactly what happened that led to the demise of Kadeem. The Commissioner also thanks the members of the community who came out and assisted in the search, but stressed that someone saw Kadeem with someone Saturday night,” the release said.
“This is not the time to remain silent, a child is dead. All of us as parents understand that this case needs to determine exactly what happened and we need to do it now. Please call crime stoppers at 1 800-8477 and leave the leads for us to follow. We need your help. Let us give Kadeem's family some closure. Please, we are calling on you, do the right thing and help us find out what happened,” it added.
