The Tribune

By SANCHESKA BROWN

Tribune Staff Reporter

sbrown@tribunemedia.net

STAFF and students at C C Sweeting Senior High mourned the loss of murder victim Indiana Forbes yesterday with a special assembly and memorial wall in her honour.

Indiana, 14, and her mother, 35-year-old Anchinique Berry, were shot “execution” style as they slept early Tuesday morning.

It happened around 5am at Woods Alley off Market Street.

Police say the victims were at their home when two masked men forced their way into the residence. The suspects shot the mother and daughter as they slept in a back bedroom.

Another person, a 31-year-old man, identified as the mother’s boyfriend, is reported to have struggled with one of the gunman and was also shot in the leg.

Police say he was able to escape and ran into the neighbour’s yard for help and to call the police.

However, when EMS personnel arrived, both mother and daughter were dead.

Sources say they were shot “execution style” with a bullet each to the head.

Police have also confirmed that Ms Berry’s other children, ages 4, 6 and 11 were also in the home at the time of the murder, but were unharmed. Sources say she worked as a chef at a popular restaurant at the Atlantis Resort.

Assistant Commissioner of Police, Anthony Ferguson said police have two men in custody. The Tribune understands the boyfriend, who has been released from hospital, is assisting police with their investigations.

Indiana was a 10th grade student at C C Sweeting Junior High. Speaking with The Tribune Principal Mrs Joan Gray said the entire school was saddened by the loss of a “bright and promising” young lady.

The school held a special ceremony in her honour, bringing in pastors and counsellors to speak with the children.

“This morning (Tuesday) we heard very early the very tragic news of one of our students passing,” she said. “It is a very difficult time for us, of course, but we have organized already an assembly where we were able to have reverence. Pastors from Living Waters and Judea Baptist Church came to speak with the children. Living waters is very supportive of the school and we have been able to have a positive relationship with both Living Waters and other churches and we are grateful they were able to be here and support us. The assembly was mainly to encourage students to understand the value of life and the importance of respecting the life of others and also appreciating their own  life. We also focused on the need to ensure you are ready because you do not know when your time will come or your number will be called. We also prayed for the family of Indiana as well as the family of those who harmed her and that God would touch their hearts and come forward,” she said.

“We have had a number of students in pain. They are all hurting. She was a 10th grader and the students forged relationships with her from Junior High School and some students are very traumatized. We have guidance counsellors from our sister school, T A Thompson and other senior high schools on the island. They are offering counselling sessions at this time. Of course our teaching staff and support staff are very supportive as well. We have teachers who are grieving as well. We are as much as possible seeking to have a normal day, there will not be regular teaching today, but our main aim is to have students be able to articulate their feelings and express themselves. We had set up a message board our students are able to express how they feel in writing about Indiana’s loss and, of course, they are encouraging the students to share so they can feel the grief.”

A classmate of Indiana said she was a “nice girl, who was funny and will be missed.”

The school intends on having an official memorial service for the teenager, sometime before the funeral.