A 15-year-old schoolgirl, accused of chopping to death a man who allegedly attempted to rape her and a friend in St Thomas last Thursday, is to appear in the Yallahs Juvenile Court today.

Deputy Superintendent Charmaine Shand said the two teenagers, aged 16 and 15, were brought before the court last Friday and the 16-year-old released following the ruling by a resident magistrate.

“The other female has been remanded and is to appear before the court on Monday [today] where the judge will rule whether she be released or held further until investigations are completed,” Shand told the Jamaica Observer on Friday.

According to the police, 39-year-old vendor Philip Bell, otherwise called ‘Bell Boy’ of Blacksmith Lane, Seaforth in the parish, was chopped to death after he allegedly made an attempt to rape the two teenagers. The incident happened at about 4:40 pm.

The two girls were reportedly lured to Bell’s house to use his computer.

“Bell allegedly attempted to rape the girls when one of them, in defence, used a machete to chop him,” a release from the Constabulary Communication Network stated.

The police were summoned and Bell was taken to hospital where he subsequently died.

The incident has sent shock waves throughout the community.

Sources told the Jamaica Observer that friends, who had turned up at the court to offer support to the two accused last Friday, wept openly.

“It was a very sad case when the students from the school where the girls attended saw them being brought before the court,” the source said.

Meanwhile, a police source said that information has emerged that Bell was last year charged for murder, but his case was dismissed in the Circuit Court.