The quiet community of Cottage, Mahaicony, which residents say has not seen a crime more serious than petty theft in decades, was left unsettled on Sunday evening when a teenager stabbed another to death after an argument about a mud-splattered vest.
Eon Benjamin, 15, of Lot 2 Cottage, Mahaicony died shortly after he was stabbed thrice about the body by a 13-year-old boy. Benjamin, according to his mourning parents, left home shortly after 6 pm to buy some things at the shop but never returned.
Earlier that day, Benjamin and two teens from his community went swimming in a nearby trench – the sort of Sunday afternoon activity enjoyed by most rural children. It was actually the beginning of a quarrel that would lead to murder. One of the two boys who accompanied Benjamin decided that a practical joke was in order and hid Benjamin’s vest and slippers.
Benjamin, according to his 36-year-old father Nigel Williams, was a quiet person but was not pleased when one of the teenaged boys splattered mud on his white vest. An argument between the teens slowly escalated and by the time the boys went home around 5 pm the spat turned into a heated confrontation between Benjamin and one of them.
“Eon [Benjamin] and one of the boys who live close to us end up in a chucking match and my wife had to go outside and part them,” Williams told this newspaper yesterday afternoon, “and she sent Eon inside.”
Williams said it was not the teen Benjamin had the physical confrontation with who stabbed him. It was a 13-year-old, who Benjamin might have “exchanged words with” who stalked then stabbed him along the Cottage Public Road, Mahaicony.
Fanella Benjamin, 32, said that she sent her son to buy some food stuff at a nearby shop around 6.20 pm on Sunday. Benjamin, the woman stated, never made it to the shop as he was attacked by the 13-year-old. Her son’s attacker, she explained, had only been living in the area for about six months and had also been sent to the shop by his guardian when he launched the fatal attack on Benjamin.
“A few minutes after Eon left for the shop,” Fanella Benjamin recalled, “a woman by the name of Evette Shepherd came running to my house shouting ‘Fanella! Fanella! Come quick! You son get stab on the road side’ and I run out there immediately.”
However, the mother said that by the time she got to the scene people who had gathered were already putting her son, who was bleeding, into a car. Fanella Benjamin accompanied her son to the Mahaicony Hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival.
“By the time we reach to the hospital the doctors couldn’t do anything to save my son,” Fanella Benjamin said her voice finally beginning to shake. “They pronounced him dead on arrival.”
The woman could not say whether anyone had witnessed Benjamin’s murder but indicated that the area where he was attacked was well illuminated by street lights.
‘…I grabbed my son’s murderer I couldn’t think straight’
Meanwhile, Williams told this newspaper the 13-year-old who stabbed his son to death was taken into police custody shortly after the incident. The teen has since admitted to police that he committed the act, Williams reported, and said he was sorry.
“I wasn’t home when the incident happen, but I was immediately informed,” Williams related. “When I got to the scene the 13-year-old was there and when I grabbed my son’s murderer I couldn’t think straight.”
Williams said that other residents managed to calm him down and reminded him that he still had five surviving children to live for. The distressed father said that Benjamin was his second eldest child and he will not rest until his son’s murderer is charged and taken before the court for his crime.
“Eon didn’t even start living life yet,” Williams said, “and now even I don’t know where he is but he isn’t here with me anymore.”
The man said that he and his reputed wife have been living in Cottage for about 17 years and in all that time they have never heard of such a terrible crime in the community. At 13, Williams said, he certainly would not have armed himself with a knife to settle a spat with a peer.
“Something is wrong with our youths,” Williams stated, “and I honestly don’t know what it is. What would drive a 13-year-old to murder someone for chucking up his friend?”
William’s eldest son, who is 17, has been informed of his sibling’s death and will be returning home today. The man said that his children are aware of their brother’s death and some of them are angry.
“Some of my children are angry about what happened to Eon but me and my wife are talking to them… We are telling them that violence is not the way.”