Emotions ran deep at St Cyprian’s Anglican Church in Highgate, St Mary Thursday afternoon during a memorial service for two of the three children who were brutally slain in Killoncholly in that parish on January 28.

The service was held by the St Mary High School, which the two children being remembered – 15 year-old Dwayne Davidson and 13 year-old Sue-Ann Gordon – attended. The third victim was their four year-old sister, Shanice Williams.

Tears flowed freely from students, teachers, Sonia Williams, the mother of the three children; as well as other members of the family, as tributes in song, poetry and Bible readings were paid to the murdered children.

Students of grade 10/2, Dwayne’s class, during their tribute asked for the time “to be one of love even though we mourn”.

Dwayne’s form teacher, Nicole Cameron, recalled the moment she learned of his death, saying she “did not feel anything. just an empty space”.

Students from Sue-Ann’s grade 8/2 class remembered her as “warm, always neat, and someone who loved her mirror”. Sue-Ann was also a member of the Girl Guides movement at the school.

The school’s Literary and Debating Society paid tribute with poetry, one of which bemoaned the “slaughtering of lambs who never had a chance to be”.

Junior minister in the Ministry of Education, Dr Donald Rhodd expressed condolences on behalf of the ministry and condemned the killings. “We grieve with and condemn the cowardly, dastardly act of the person who committed this crime,” he said.

A team from the Guidance and Counselling Department in the Ministry of Education, Rhodd told the congregation, is to visit the school soon.

Member of parliament and former chairman of the school, Dr Morais Guy said the incident was a wake-up call “to increase the fight against crime and violence in the society”.

Williams, the grieving mother, was presented with a memoir prepared by classmates of both Dwayne and Sue-Ann.

Following the service, the students staged a march from the school into the town, calling for peace.

Two funeral services for the three children are planned for tomorrow at the Siloah Apostolic Church in Stewart Town and in Killoncholly.

On Wednesday, the police said they had arrested 31 year-old Jeffery Perry and charged him with the triple murder.

“He more or less confessed to the crimes,” Sergeant Dwight McPherson, officer in charge of the Highgate police, told the Observer.

“He took the police to where he hid the murder weapon.”

The police did not name the site.