KINGSTON, Jamaica – Veneshia Buckley, the mother of Kaylan Dowdie, has declared that the justice system has failed her teenage daughter who remains hospitalised from the brutal beating she received in November last year.

Buckley’s comments in a social media video Saturday came 24 hours after the five women charged with her daughter’s attack were given a November 6, 2023 date to appear in the Supreme Court. 

The women, who are charged with wounding with intent and unlawful wounding, were all granted bail in the sum of $1.5 million. 

The date for the women’s court appearance has enraged Jamaicans. 

According to Buckley, speaking in an Instagram live video, Kaylan, on hearing the news that her attackers were on bail, said that they should have been charged with murder. 

“Kaylan said something today (Saturday) in regards to yesterday’s (Friday’s) hearing and how they (the accused women) are still out on bail, and the date of the first appearance in the Supreme Court, and you know we were talking about the charges, and Kaylan say, ‘They should be charged for murder because technically they did kill me’. 

“That’s what she said: ‘They kill me nine times’. And I laughed and I said, ‘True, so that should be nine murder charges’,” Buckley recounted. 

“We laughed about it, but the seriousness of the situation is the justice system has failed. It’s always been failing right, but you don’t know how much it is failing until you are the person that is in the seat and you see the unfairness of it all,” she opined.

Responding to a family member who echoed Kaylan’s sentiments that the accused women should be charged for murder, Buckley again supported that argument, though not grounded in law, as her daughter was not killed.

“Technically, they did [kill her]. She died nine times, but she is back here and fighting stronger. [She] still having complications, [but] the clot inna di heart has been dissolved. Yes, it has been dissolved, so that is one good news and good thing,” Buckley revealed. 

Kaylan, who was then 17 years old, was allegedly beaten by the five women while attending an illegal party on the night of Saturday, November 7, 2020. 

The accused women are Shakeema McLeod; Nadine Aldridge; Yoland Vassell; Timone Williams, otherwise called ‘Rusty’; and Casiann Lewis, otherwise called ‘Chrissy’.

Dowdie has been hospitalised at the University Hospital of the West Indies since the incident and has undergone multiple surgeries. 

On Saturday, Buckley posted a photograph of Kaylan smiling from her bed at the hospital. 

Buckley said her daughter is fighting and she praised God for bringing her through thus far. The mother said she was particularly impressed by how “beautiful” and “happy” Kaylan was when she visited her at the hospital earlier on Saturday. 

“She (Kaylan) is in good spirits today (Saturday); that’s why I am happy. Normally, a lot of times when I go there [to the hospital] she is feeling depressed, she is down, she is teary-eyed, you know she is just sad, but today she was in good spirits.

“She looked beautiful today. I was just in awe… Her eyes were so bright; they weren’t gloomy and glossy,” recalled Buckley.

Amid those triumphs, however, Kaylan’s medical treatment is continuing and will require further funding. But Buckley is refusing to give up, stressing that she is leaving it all in the hands of the creator.

“It’s a rough time for her (Kaylan) as mi tell unuh. She wants to come home. If is even fi lay down in her bed and watch har TV, she wants to come home. That is just the bittersweet of it all. 

“Kaylan is doing a test this week called a coronary angiogram and right heart catheterisation. So basically, they are going to place a catheter inside her heart to record… the pressure or volumes inside of the heart,… because what they are saying is that it is suspected that her… right atrium or the right side of the heart, the pressure is too high [there],” explained Buckley.

She continued, “We are holding on and we are trusting God. I have to foot these bills and these people are walking around freely.”

Asked by a man whether her daughter was able to speak, Buckley responded: “Yes she can talk. It might not be like me and you… There is no audio (sound), but I have been by her side. You might not be able to understand but I do and her nurses do.”

While expressing her gratitude to those who have assisted with her daughter’s medical bills, Buckley continued to worship by giving God “all the praise and glory”. 

“A lot of people come in the hospital after Kaylan and dem dead and gone lef her sad to say. A lot of lives have gone and she is still here, so why not smile. Things may not be going the way we want it, but why not smile? Don’t we have enough to give God glory for? Don’t we have enough to give thanks for [or] to give praise for? We do, to God be the glory.

“Kaylan is already healed. We can do nothing but claim it. She is already healed in Jesus name,” Buckley said.