In June 2010, 25-year-old Mary Sandy was leaving the Providence Primary, where she had taken her young son to school, when she was struck and killed by a car while attempting to cross the road.
She left behind four sons: Andre, Tyrone, Anthony and a two-month-old baby known at the time as Andrew. At the time of her death the young mother had lived under deplorable conditions with her husband and children in a shack at Providence. There were also reports back then that she had endured domestic abuse and was forced to raise the children on her own. The husband, Mohan Geer, described their circumstances as “difficult” in an interview with this newspaper after her death.
Their circumstances led to the children being removed from Geer’s care and made wardens of the state. Eventually, the baby was adopted, and while his brothers remained in the state’s care, they spent holidays at the home of their brother’s new family.