(This is the first in a series on how families are coping after losing loved ones through crime and violence)

IT has been almost five years since Andrea Folkes’ son, Aamir Scott, was brutally murdered in their hometown community of Sandside on the outskirts of Port Maria in St Mary. But to date the bereaved mother has not yet come to grips with the senseless nature in which she lost her only child.

Young Aamir was known to all in the rural district as a cheerful child with a winning smile.

On September 16, 2008, two days after he was reported missing, the boy’s mutilated body was found stuffed in a rice bag at the base of a tree in bushes up a small hill less than a mile behind a house that he had visited.

His head, hands and legs were severed and his torso was cut in two.

Aamir’s killers even slaughtered a dog in the community and placed the carcass metres from the spot where they dumped his body, in an apparent bid to throw searchers off track if his remains begun to smell.

“I cannot find closure even now. This experience has been hard for me and my relatives and I really want to know what my little boy could have done to deserve such a horrible end. I still do cry. I still have sleepless nights. I don’t even know if this will ever go away,’ Folkes said.

When the Sunday Observer visited Folkes she had gone to the Port Maria Cemetery to look at her son’s grave and had to muster all her strength in order not to break down.

The grief was evident as she fixed flowers on the tiled grave where her son’s remains lay.

Even though she was able to manage a weak smile, it was clear that the grieving mother was still deeply affected by her son’s macabre demise, even though a teenager was sentenced to 20 years in prison after pleading guilty to the crime.

In February 2010, Prince Levy, 17, who had confessed to asphyxiating Aamir before severing his head, arms and legs, was slapped with the sentence by Justice Gloria Smith, who said that the court had taken into consideration that Levy was a minor when the crime was committed and that he had pleaded guilty.

It was revealed in court that Levy had sent Aamir to purchase a stick of marijuana and the child refused. Levy confessed to pouncing on the much smaller boy and strangling him.

He also told police investigators the exact spot where the body was dumped.

But despite the judge’s explanation, Folkes is still finding it difficult to accept the fact that her son’s killer might be back on the streets before he is 40.

“I don’t know why he was killed. The pain has not fully eased as the memory is always there and will never fade,” Folkes said with a sad look on her face.

Aamir’s father, Dwight Scott, has also been trying his best to recover from the tragedy that threw the whole community of Sandside in a tizzy.

Although he has fathered another son, Scott said nothing can replace the moments he spent with Aamir, with whom he said he was very close.

“Sometimes the memory just come flooding back and I have to try hard to remain focused. My son and me were very close and many times my eyes fill with water when I remember how he was killed in such a wicked style. What could a little child do to deserve such a horrible death?” Scott said.

He, too, was upset with the sentence that Aamir’s confessed killer was given.

“That boy commit such a cruel act and going come back on the street? He should never ever see the light of day again. He should never come back on the streets,” he said.

Folkes is also concerned that Levy did not act alone and others are now walking free, even though they took part in the gruesome act.

When news of the child’s death broke, the police arrested a number of men but were forced to release them after Levy confessed to the crime and was adamant that he acted alone.

However, Folkes said that information has reached her that during his time in jail, Levy told a representative of the Child Development Agency (CDA) that he had an accomplice on the evening that Aamir lost his life.

“I can’t understand why that confession was not probed further. From the beginning it was clear that the boy who took my only child’s life did not act alone. He was at a house that was occupied by some people of questionable character. I believe more people were involved,” she said.

In the hours after the gruesome discovery, irate residents of Sandside torched the premises where the men were holed up and Levy’s relatives have since left the district in shame.

But apart from Aamir’s parents, others have also been devastated by the crime that shook the rural community.

Only a year ago, Folkes buried her father, who doubled his daily intake of cigarettes after his grandchild was killed.

“My father used to smoke, but he smoked even harder after the incident and it killed him last year. He was never the same after the murder,” she said.

The pain gets even harder to bear each July when Aamir’s birthday comes around.

“Every third of July is very hard for all of us in the family. It is a heavy emotional burden,” Folkes said.

Aamir’s aunt Maxine Plunkett has double the pain and grief to handle as she, too, lost a son to violence in the community.

In 2003, Oral Henry was stabbed in the back and chest and succumbed to his injuries.

The incident happened five years after the horrendous killing of Aamir and the woman was clearly affected by the double loss, as her son was born on July 5.

“Every year around this time is a burden. Come September is another burden gain. As a family we really have it to deal with. It has not been easy for us,” Plunkett said.

Folkes said that other family members have also been terribly affected.

“From the day my son passed there have been some family members who have never ever been the same. My friend passed away one year after, and I know it affected her badly,” Folkes said.

Come September 14, the anniversary of Aamir’s death, Folkes and her relatives will host an annual memorial of his passing with a church service and candlelight ceremony at Sandside.