TROY, Trelawny — Huddled on the verandah of their family home, relatives of 10-year-old Shani “Kaidra” Coke, whose partially nude body was found with her throat slashed on Tuesday, remembered the child for her brilliance and radiant smile.

“Shani was born here and lived [with her grandparents], because her [mother] has to work. When Shani goes to school she doesn’t play around. She took her education seriously. From Shani a go basic school she was always first [in her class]. She was always putting out her best. She is from an educated background. Her father is educated and so is her mother,” the child’s aunt Shawna Williams-Stevens told journalists on Wednesday as she stood beside her grieving sister, Shani’s mother Ackeem “Kim” Williams.

The aunt’s hands could not hold the many academic trophies and certificates earned by Shani during her tenure at Troy Primary School.

Relatives of 10-year-old Shani Coke huddle together on their verandah in Tyre district, Troy, south Trelawny on Wednesday. (Photo: Kasey Williams)

“From grade one her teachers rewarded her, whether with a stamp in her book or sweets, or you know the teachers always try to elevate her for her to know that she does good. Her mother would always buy her gifts to encourage her,” said Williams-Stevens.

“Right now she was [among] the top students at Troy Primary. If school was keeping it would have to lock today, because of Shani,” added the aunt, while pointing out that up to last Friday Shani was recognised for her participation in summer school.

“All last week she got her certificate to show her brilliance. When you look at her you see the next doctor, lawyer, and they just took her life, just cut her off. Right now we are devastated. Right now we don’t know our head from our feet. Last night we nuh sleep. This is traumatising. Maybe Kaidra was going to come and take her mother out of poverty and they cut her life short and kill her,” Williams-Stevens said before breaking down in tears.

According to a police report, as well as the account of residents, mid-afternoon Tuesday Shani was walking home from a shop along a roadway near her home when she was abducted.

Later, a farmer, who had gone in search of his cow after hearing strange sounds from bushes, made the grisly discovery and raised an alarm.

Police said following the discovery of the child’s body, there was a mob attack on a father and son in the community.

Residents told the Jamaica Observer that the two men are Shani’s relatives. Angry residents accused the son of raping and killing the child. He was beaten, chopped and stoned to death, while his father, who was also attacked by the mob, was admitted to hospital.

Aston Coke, father of 10-year-old Shani Coke, speaking with journalists on Wednesday in Troy, Trelawny. (Photo: Kasey Williams)

Police identified the dead man as Delroy Coke, but did not provide any other information.

Shani’s father, Aston Coke, otherwise called Junior, told journalists that his daughter was well-loved and admired by many in her community.

“Her grandmother sent her to the shop and she did not make it back home. Someone stopped her on the street and disturbed her somehow and slashed her throat… She was loving and caring in the community growing up. Everybody knows her. She knows everyone. She can see you and call you by your full name. She had a sense of humour. She was doing well in school and she got a lot of academic awards,” said the heartbroken father.

The road leading to 10-year-old Shani Coke’s home where she was abducted mid-afternoon Tuesday.(Photo: Kasey Williams)

“She decided that she wanted to make something out of herself growing up, because we were driving that into her head, but things just happened overnight,” added Coke as he alleged that the man believed to have killed his daughter was a habitual offender.

“It is an act that should never have happened in this neighbourhood,” declared Coke, who is battling his own health problems.

He recounted the last encounter with his daughter over the weekend.

“She came by Saturday afternoon and my uncle was putting on a back-to-school treat up by the community centre and she went there to get bags and food. She was very polite. She stopped by and I said to Kaidra, ‘What you doing here? Aren’t you supposed to be up by the treat?’ She said, ‘Yes, Daddy’ and she walked off and said, ‘Daddy, later when I am coming back I will show you what I get.’ I called her back and went in my wallet to give her money to buy juice,” Coke said.

Shattered glass at the house where a man and his son were mobbed in Tyre district, Troy.(Photo: Kasey Williams)

“That was the first time my uncle and some of my aunts met her. I didn’t get to see her Sunday morning when she went to church and I didn’t get to see her yesterday (Tuesday), because she didn’t come all the way out here to the store,” he said as he reflected on the precious memories and proud moments he spent with his daughter.

“She was always smiling and you never saw her sad. You always saw her happy. Those are the things I remember about her at all times. When it comes to the academics you go by her grandmother’s house, trust me you will see a lot of achievements — trophies — that she got at school. Even sometimes when her mother and grandmother are not around I go by the church to collect them,” he said.

“It is a very sad story to know that this neighbourhood of Troy, Trelawny, has come to this. I don’t know if it is because it reached my doorstep [why] I feel it so pressuring, but things have been happening around here a long time and nobody gets justice,” charged Coke.

Ten-year-old Shani Coke, affectionately called Kaidra, who was killed in Tyre district, Troy, south Trelawny, Tuesday.