The sister of murdered Mercedez Layne posted a heartfelt message to social media yesterday, saying her family was now broken.Shereeka Layne said her 12-year-old sister did not deserve such a gruesome death and that she was trying to be strong for their mother and siblings.She wrote in a social media post, “I love you so much babygirl, this really breaks my heart, wish there was something I can do to keep you with us, you’re such a beautiful, you didn’t deserve this but God don’t sleep babygirl...”
TRAGIC LOSS: The St Francis Erin RC Primary School where 12-year-old Mercedez Layne attended. —Photo: DEXTER PHILIP
She said Mercedez was the most funny and adorable person she knew.“I don’t think I can deal with this baby but I have to be strong for mom and our siblings. I love you so much babygirl, rest in paradise, til we meet again my sweet sister,” she wrote.And for residents of Erin, the tragic end to the life of Mercedez Layne is more than a crime story.It is the loss of a child they watched grow, a young girl whose ambitions stretched beyond the boundaries of her village and whose future appeared bright.That future was shattered on Saturday, when the 12-year-old child, who should have been at a dance class that afternoon, was abducted and beaten to death.Her body was found the next day in bushes approximately 500 feet along a dirt road, in a secluded area near oil pipelines and a well on Carapal Road, a few minutes’ drive from her home on Los Iros Beach Road.As news of the killing spread, grief rippled through her village and the country.The crime scene painted a chilling picture for investigators.Among the items recovered were a broken bottle, a piece of wood, a black plastic bag containing four packs of ramen noodles, the right side of a slipper, some clothes and a packet of cigarettes.The results of the post-mortem on Mercedez stated that she died from blunt force trauma to the head.The discovery of the child’s partially clothed body brought screams from her family members and neighbours.Just days before her life was violently ended, Mercedez was looking forward to a school field trip in north Trinidad, eager to explore and enjoy the mall, and visit the country’s landmarks that she and her classmates had learned about from their teacher.The Standard Four student of St Francis Roman Catholic Primary School was less than a year away from writing her exams to enter secondary school, but she had already spoken about becoming a doctor one day, just as her older sister wanted to, fuelled by a desire to help others and make a difference.Instead, her classmates and teachers mourned as they looked at her empty desk that served as a painful reminder of a young life cut short.‘This village will never forget’Local government councillor Arlene Ramdeo has been a lifelong resident of the village where Mercedez lived as part of a community of approximately 200 people, and where children like her are not merely known by their parents but by entire streets of neighbours, relatives and friends.Ramdeo told the Express yesterday that she and Mercedez’s father, Ronald Cabrera, have been neighbours since childhood in Arena Village.She said children are raised surrounded by residents who remember a simpler time, when neighbours left doors unlocked, children walked between relatives’ homes, and entire villages shared responsibility for one another’s well-being.Ramdeo said, “I watched Mercedez grow as a little girl when she and her family were in Arena with her dad. She was a petite little lady, a quiet, respectful and focused child. Her schoolteacher said she always put her best foot forward in everything she did. Last year, she was one of the models in the school’s party and fashion show.”When Mercedez’s parents’ relationship ended, her mother and siblings moved out of Arena Village, but remained in the community, said Ramdeo.A relative of the child, who did not wish to be identified, said last Friday Mercedez had spent the night at an aunt’s home, which is next to her grandfather’s house in Lorensotte North Trace in Rancho Quemado.The next day at around 11 a.m., her grandfather put her in a PH car to return to her family’s home on Los Iros Road, about a three-minute drive, “...but she never made it home,” the relative said.When the child did not return, an alarm was raised in the village and a police report was made, followed by searches by relatives, police and a hunters search and rescue team.The search ended when Mercedez’s body was found in a bushy area not far from her home on Sunday morning.Police investigators believe she was abducted by a taxi driver, taken off the route, and driven into a forested area near the village.Investigators believe she was attacked and killed where her body was found.Police have detained a suspect—a 26-year-old man of Palo Seco—who operates as a PH driver along the Siparia to Erin route.He remains in police custody as enquiries continue by detectives of the Homicide Bureau of Investigations of Region Three.Across the nation, citizens have expressed outrage and sorrow, with prayers and tributes pouring in on social media, alongside demands for justice.For the community of Erin, Ramdeo said, “This village will heal one day, but it will never, ever forget.”
