A sombre mood enveloped St John’s Primary in St Catherine on Monday as the school community struggled to come to grips with the murder of one of its own — nine-year-old grade three student Kelsey Ferrigon.

The desk that Kelsey once occupied was decorated with candles, flowers and letters by her classmates as they mourned her tragic loss. They sobbed openly as representatives deployed from the Ministry of Education and Youth, as well as the Child Protection and Family Services Agency, offered grief counselling support.

Kelsey, who was found dead in a barrel at her Job Lane home last Friday, was remembered by her Grade three teacher as “an angel in every shape and form” and as a leader whose future had appeared bright.

“She was such a sweetheart, a loving and caring child. I would always see her as a fixer; once there is a problem in the class, she would come and find a reasonable solution how to fix it. She was a leader also, so I saw it fit to appoint her as a leader for her group,” Candace Cobourn, Kelsey’s teacher, told the Jamaica Observer.

“I loved her energy. She would come to me with her little friends after school or sometimes at lunchtime, maybe she would say a poem for me or something that they made up. She would come and do her little TikTok dance with her friends; she will be missed,” Cobourn said.

The educator shared that Kelsey had a warm personality towards everyone she engaged with, noting, “You didn’t have to teach Kelsey for her to be warm towards you. She would go up to any teacher and say, ‘Hi, Miss, how are you? How is your day?’”

Cobourn fondly recalled an interaction she had with Kelsey the day before Teacher’s Day as the child prepared a gift for her.

“She came to me asking, ‘Miss, what am I going to write in the card?’ and I said, ‘You should know what to write.’ She said, ‘I’m going to write how you make me feel’, and that she did,” Cobourn said.

“She wrote a sweet little message in the card, and she gave it to me. She gave me a rag, and [her] mommy and her inscribed my initials on it, and I gave her a hug and told her that I loved it. That’s the kind of little girl she was.”

The gruesome discovery of Kelsey’s body sent shockwaves across Jamaica over the weekend. She was found partially naked, upside down in a barrel. It was suspected that she had been beaten and sexually assaulted.

Giovanni ‘Coolie Man’ Ellis, who had been named by police as a person of interest in connection to the incident, was shot dead by cops in Sandy Bay, Clarendon, on Monday in an alleged confrontation. Ellis was reportedly on bail for a charge of cruelty to a child.

“I am just not pleased after I read that he was previously committed for the same crime some years ago. I am not sure what they can put in place. What the system can come up with, but I don’t think that it was handled well. He shouldn’t just be back in society like that,” Cobourn said.

St John’s Primary School Principal Louise Clarke, reacting to news of Ellis’s demise, said she is of the view that justice has been served for the crime committed against Kelsey.

“What has happened to little Kelsey is incomprehensible. It is mind-boggling; it defies words. She is a young, innocent child; she did nobody any harm, and for an adult to do what he did to her, it is beyond words. It is undeserving, but as I say and continue to say, I shall not question God. Justice has been served in what has happened to him, and I am happy with the outcome,” Clarke said.

The principal noted the irony of Kelsey’s murder occurring during Child Month — a period dedicated to recognising and celebrating children’s rights, protection, and well-being.

During an afternoon gathering at the school, Cobourn told the students: “Children, we will continue to celebrate you this month. It is your month, and yes, it has been tainted for us, perhaps for the entire country, but we will continue to celebrate, and as we celebrate, we will keep the memory of Kelsey alive. She will not be forgotten anytime soon.”

Senior education officer for region six Stephany Webb-Parker said that grief support will continue for teachers and students.

“All efforts will be rolled out to ensure that you, every single one of you — children and adults — will be a little more comforted that this is a place, even though bad things happen. We will always make the provisions to support you and for you to overcome and do better,” she said.