KINGSTON, Jamaica — The Denham Town High School community is mourning the loss of 11-year-old Jaydon Whyte, who perished in a house fire along with his stepfather, 60-year-old Junior Barrett, along North Street in Kingston Tuesday morning.

The school’s principal, Yvette Richards-Thompson, described the grade seven student as a perfect gentleman who made a significant impact on both students and staff members.

“He was kind, he was caring, he loved to just hug people, and he was considered to the point where he would even sacrifice his own lunch money just to ensure that persons who he loved and cared for had something to eat. It’s a loss because, you know, young men like that are rare and especially when you think about, you know, the possibilities of where his life could have been. We don’t question God, but it is a very sad situation,” she said.

Meanwhile, Monica Gray, a neighbour of the teen, described him as well-mannered and respectful.

“I adore that little boy. He’s very respectful, manersable and loving. I never, ever sit down over there and that little boy, if a 10 of us sitting there, him coming inside, him touching you, and he tell everybody morning, evening and night. Me, I always hug him. Last night I get the last hug from him when he come down to buy something. It really touched me,” Gray said.

Deputy Superintendent Veronica Johnson-Blythe, Zone One commander, said the police have been offering grief counselling to the school community following the incident.

“They have lost a member of the school, and so we offered counselling to the students and the teachers, students who expressed their gratitude, and they indicated to us how they felt about their colleague, their brother, their friend, their neighbour who has passed on. Very unfortunate situation, and it could have happened to anyone, but we are here, full hundred, giving our support,” DSP Johnson-Blythe said.

READ: 11-y-o among two killed in Denham Town house fire

(Video: Llewellyn Wynter)