Jamaica Gleaner

I put it to God – Reid

- Carl Gilchrist/Gleaner Writer

EDUCATION MINISTER Ruel Reid made a quiet visit to Top Road in St Ann’s Bay on Wednesday evening to offer support to the parents of slain teenager Ocho Rios High School student Raven Wilson, who was killed last weekend and her body dumped in the community.

Reid spoke with the media briefly after meeting with her parents, Lavern Morgan and Locksley Wilson, at their home along

Top Road in St Ann’s Bay.

The minister said that he was putting the case to God for a solution.

“It’s a lot of emotion, and I really, really feel it from the depth of my heart,” Reid said. “My greatest sympathy, certainly, has been aroused in this particular situation.

It’s very regretful, and I put it to

God as well. ‘Vengeance is mine’, saith the Lord, and I know the

God up above sees, and he is going to make sure that those who are responsibl­e for this crime are going to be dealt with with the appropriat­e justice.” Reid said that the killing of any person is traumatic but expressed appreciati­on for the close relationsh­ip that Raven had with her parents.

“I can appreciate, having spoken to the father and the mother, the close relationsh­ip that they had, the wonderful relationsh­ip. It’s the kind of household and parenting that the Government is promoting – father and mother together in a very loving, caring relationsh­ip, such a protective relationsh­ip,” Reid said. “When you look at the quality relationsh­ip that the mother described that she had with Raven from she was born, very close. Raven didn’t go anywhere, as she said, except both of them were going, apart from when she was going to school, and it’s unfortunat­e that it was on her way to school that somehow she was taken away and this unfortunat­e act was committed.”

Meanwhile, Raven’s father is expressing appreciati­on for the support the family has been getting from people in the community and further afield. “Although it’s is negative, the positive coming out of it is that people still care for others,” Wilson said.

“The police force, to be honest, in the early stage, we felt like we got left out but, after a while, we realised that they are supporting us to the fullest. When it comes to neighbours, the community itself, people from outside, everybody join hands and hearts, and really and truly, we have the support.”

“We really appreciate and thank the people who really give us the support, who make us feel like it’s not the end of the rope,” he concluded. The police, in the meantime, are continuing investigat­ions into the killing, which has shocked the community.

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