TWO days before Mother’s Day, Georgia Anderson was hit with the most devastating news a parent could ever receive: The body of her nine-year-old daughter, Kelsey Ferrigon, was found stuffed in a barrel inside their house on Job Lane, Spanish Town, St Catherine.

The gruesome murder was committed nine days into the annual celebration of Child Month, when the nation gives great focus to children’s rights, well-being, and protection. This year the month is being observed under the theme ‘Act Now, Stand Against Child Abuse and Exploitation’.

“I’m numb. I don’t have any emotions right now. I’m still in shock. I haven’t processed anything yet. It’s still fresh,” Anderson told the Jamaica Observer in a phone conversation Saturday.

Anderson, who residents said had left home for work hours before the murder, had packed her bags and left the community as she couldn’t bear to stay in the house.

The grief-stricken mother paused several times throughout the conversation, seemingly fighting back tears. She shared that her daughter was the kind of child everybody would want.

“Kelsey was a quiet child. She was doing well in school and she was planning a children’s day treat at the end of the month for her and her friends,” the mother told the Sunday Observer, adding that they already had some of the supplies.

According to the police, Kelsey’s partially naked body was discovered about 8:00 pm Friday, upside down in a barrel at her home. The body appeared to have been beaten.

Detectives assigned to the Criminal Investigations Branch have named Giovanni Ellis, otherwise called Coolie Man, as a person of interest in the case, and launched a manhunt for him.

On Saturday, Deputy Prime Minister Dr Horace Chang, who is also the national security minister, described the child’s murder as a “horrific act of unspeakable violence”.

He vowed that the murder will not go unpunished and announced a $2-million reward for “any information given by citizens which will aid the police in the early capture of the perpetrators”.

“The full force of the law will be brought on the perpetrators of this evil, heinous, and cowardly act. I have directed the commissioner of police to utilise every available resource to bring those responsible to justice. The response must be swift,” Chang said.

“This tragedy demands more than just the capture of criminals. It compels all good citizens to confront the deep-seated issues within our society that allow such barbarity to occur,” he added.

“I therefore urge those responsible to turn themselves in. To the citizens, I say to you: ‘Do not harbour them.’ The police will leave no stone unturned to capture these criminals,” Chang said and extended condolence to the family.

When the Sunday Observer visited the community on Saturday morning, residents and close family friends were seen standing outside the house where Kelsey’s body was found.

The atmosphere was a thick mixture of sadness and anger as they exchanged theories about the motive for the crime and how it could have been committed.

One woman who identified herself as a close family friend was torn with grief. She marched around the house while preaching against the evil act, and eventually broke down in tears when she got to what seemed to be the entrance to the house, banged on the door, and screamed at the top of her lungs: “Kelsey! Kelsey! Kelsey! Kelsey!” her head falling against the door as tears streamed down her face.

A relative of the nine-year-old, who requested anonymity, said that Kelsey’s brother had come home and, upon realising that his sister was missing, began searching for her.

The relative said she was in a neighbour’s house when she heard screaming and went to investigate.

“I go to him and I ask him, ‘What is the problem?’ and he said, ‘My sister dead. Who killed her?’ He was talking, but I coulda hardly hear because is like him inna shock and the words hardly a come out of his mouth,” she related.

The relative said she went inside the house where she saw Kelsey’s body stuffed in a barrel with blood running from her nose and eyes, and her head swollen.

“Mi still shocked and I’m in pain. I can’t even eat. I have to be forcing myself to eat,” she told the
Sunday Observer.

“She is a good girl. She nuh faas’ with people. Kelsey is very quiet. She’s always in a corner by herself; you have to go to her and talk to her and see if she alright,” the woman shared.

“Mi really inna shock. I can’t process it. All now I cannot believe it,” she added.

The Child Protection and Family Services Agency (CPFSA) condemned the murder, saying that it noted with “absolute horror and deep sorrow” that it occurred in the child’s home — “a space where she should have felt most safe”.

“This deeply disturbing incident is a chilling reminder of some of the horrific dangers that some of our children face every day. It pains my heart to think that a young girl, full of potential and promise, could be taken from this world in such a cruel and inhumane way,” said CPFSA Chief Executive Officer Laurette Adams-Thomas.

“This was not just the loss of a child — this was the desecration of innocence, and it shakes us to our very core,” she said, adding that upon learning of the incident the CPFSA immediately dispatched a team of first responders.

She said that while officers are still investigating the incident, they have since referred the mother, and Kelsey’s brother, and two other siblings — ages six and three — to the Ministry of Justice’s Victim Services Division for counselling, which will begin on Monday morning.”

Adams-Thomas also said the agency “notes with particular anguish that this horrific crime unfolded during Child Month, a time designated to raise awareness about the rights of children and to advocate for their protection”.

Councillor Theresa Turner Flynn (Jamaica Labour Party, Hampton Green Division), in St Catherine, stood with residents outside the victim’s house as she extended condolence to the family.

“It’s a sad situation, and the whole community is hurting. From the top of Job Lane to the bottom of Job Lane, the entire community is devastated,” said Turner Flynn.

“We are trying to console the rest of the family members because, speaking to the mother, the mother is even afraid to come back on the premises. We send our sympathies and regards to her, and we bear her up in our prayers because it’s a rough time,” she said.

Opposition spokeswoman on gender, disabilities, and inclusion, Denise Daley issued a statement expressing sorrow and outrage. She said the incident is a heartbreaking reminder to protect children.

“May is Child Month, a time meant to celebrate the joy, innocence, and potential of our children. Instead, we are mourning another young life stolen. It cannot be business as usual,” said Daley.

“We must foster a culture where our children are nurtured, protected, and valued. That starts in our homes, schools, churches, and communities,” she added.

Daley further urged Jamaicans to be alert and break the culture of silence in relation to crime.

“We owe it to her, and every child in this country, to ensure that their right to life, safety, and dignity is protected. Let this be the moment we say ‘Never again.’ Let’s honour her life by making sure no other child has to die like this,” Daley said.

Meanwhile enraged residents demanded that the man named as a person of interest in the case by the police — Giovanni Ellis, otherwise called ‘Coolie Man’ — be caught and subjected to jungle justice.

“She nuh trouble nobody. Is a good little girl,” said one resident.

“A jungle justice we say because him affi dead!” another resident shouted.

Another resident said that Kelsey was always jovial and considered the life of the party. He said that the community operated like a family village, and Kelsey was always looked after by everyone in the area.

“When I saw her foot, no life or anything, I just walk out of the house because to see this good little girl just gone like that, me not even know what to say,” he told the Sunday Observer, his eyes slowly turning red.

Head of the Criminal Investigations Branch, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Wayne Josephs said the police are leaving no stone unturned in their investigations.

“The brutal assault and murder of Kelsey has sent shock waves through our entire force and, I’m sure, throughout Jamaica. We are utilising every single resource at our disposal — our investigators, our forensic teams, our intelligence networks — to relentlessly pursue and apprehend the monster responsible for this act,” said ACP Josephs.

“We owe it to Kelsey, her family, and every child in Jamaica to bring this individual to justice swiftly,” he added.

At the start of Child Month, Nicole Patrick Shaw, chair of the National Child Month Committee, reported that an environmental assessment conducted last December showed an increase in child violence across the country.

The study found that 168 children under 17 years old were killed between 2020 and 2024, while another 351 suffered gunshot injuries.

The data further revealed that 1,439 children — 253 of them between three and 10 years old — were victims of rape.

Minister Chang, in his release on Saturday said, “The brutality of crime in all forms is a scourge in our society, and we are committed to rooting it out. We owe it to this innocent soul, and to all our children, to create a Jamaica where such atrocities are never repeated.”

Police crime scene tape is seen outside the house at Job Lane, Spanish Town, St Catherine, where the body of nine-year-old Kelsey Ferrigon was found Friday night. Police said they believe the child was sexually assaulted before she was killed and stuffed in a barrel inside the house. (Naphtali Junior)

The house where Kelsey Ferrigon’s body was found inside a barrel on Friday (Naphtali Junior)

Nine-year-old Kelsey Ferrigon. (Naphtali Junior)

Councillor for the Hampton Green Division in St Catherine, Theresa Turner Flynn visits the house where nine-year-old Kelsey Ferrigon was found dead. (Naphtali Junior)

An undated photo of Giovanni Ellis, otherwise called ‘Coolie Man’, who has been named as a person of interest by the police as they investigate the murder of nine-year-old Kelsey Ferrigon.