A one-year-old child died early yesterday morning after she was thrown out of a window and then buried in a swampy North Sophia yard, all reportedly at the hands of an uncle.
The gruesome death of Ronasha Pilgrim, of Lot 98 North Sophia, Greater Georgetown, stunned the community, which was told that the man had been after her earrings. Her uncle, a 20-year-old resident of ‘A’ Field, Sophia, who was described as a drug addict, was taken into custody.
Police said the events that led to the toddler’s death occurred between 3.30 and 4 am yesterday. At the time, Ronasha and her two siblings, ages 10 and 12, had been left alone at home by their father, who works as a security guard.
A police statement said that the suspect allegedly gained entry into the house by breaking a window.
The police said he attempted to relieve the toddler of her earrings but she began to scream. As a result, he tossed her through a window into the swamped yard.
On leaving, the police added, he allegedly then placed a pile of wood on top of her body, which was submerged under the approximately 1 ½ ft of water and slush.
When Stabroek News visited the scene yesterday morning, residents of the area expressed disbelief of the gruesome act committed by the suspect.
Ron Pilgrim, the father of the dead child, said he left Ronasha and her two brothers at home on Thursday evening and went to work.
He said he received a call early yesterday morning from a neighbour, who informed him that he needed to return home immediately since there was an emergency. As a result, he immediately went home.
“On my way I come in and I saw one of my sons and the neighbour walking coming. So we all went into the yard and when we reach there she [neighbor] told him to tell me what happen,” he related.
He said based on what he was told, his brother broke into the house by removing the louvres from a window. “He jump into the house and hold on to the little boy [the ten-year-old] to [throw] him through the window but after he hold on to his foot, he loose him and went to Ronasha,” Ron explained.
He said at the time the toddler was sleeping. “They say they see he hold onto she ears like and meanwhile she was sleeping she start cry and then is when he tek she and throw she out the window,” he further noted.
“They say when he finish, he jump through back the window and he start digging up some mud at the side of the yard and he tek her and bury her in the hole and then pack wood on her.”
It wasn’t until yesterday morning when the police arrived at the scene that Ronasha’s body was retrieved. “I personally move the wood, I push my hand at the bottom and then I feel her and pick her up. She was full of mud,” the grieving father said.
This newspaper was told that the suspect was only recently released from prison, where he had been jailed on a conviction for break and enter and larceny.
Ronasha body is at the Lyken Funeral Home awaiting a post-mortem examination.
