The body of a nine-year-old boy was yesterday recovered from the Demerara River where he had apparently drowned on Sunday after he had attempted to disembark the boat he was in by jumping onto another boat, but hit his head and fell into the water instead.
The body of Kevin Neville, a student of the Vreed-en-Hoop Primary was fished out of the Demerara River close to the Vreed-en-Hoop Stelling some time close to midday yesterday. His body was found during the low tide close to the spot where the incident occurred. He was clothed in shorts and there were bruises to his face and at the side of his head.
His grieving mother Alice called ‘Baby’ said the youngest of her five children, was coming from a fishing trip with a friend when the incident occurred. She said he had woken up around 8 am on Sunday. The two of them were alone in the house as his siblings had all ventured outside. She said he had asked where they had gone and begged her for $20. He then went out and she never saw him alive again.
She heard about the incident around 4 pm on Sunday and though a search was attempted, Neville’s body was not found.
His 12-year-old sister and his fishing trip friend were with him at the time of the incident though it is unclear whether an alarm was raised immediately. His sister said he was attempting to disembark the small boat when he slipped and fell, hitting his head in the process. She claimed that an adult observed the incident and asked if the boy could swim and she told him yes. She said she and the friend did not “do nothing”.
She then stated that she ran to the Vreed-en-Hoop junction where an older brother was and informed him of the incident and led him to the spot. Following that she went home. A search was carried out but the child was not found and the police were informed and they took statements. Neighbours and relatives were harsh towards the little girl urging her to tell the truth, asking her to explain why she ran home, kept quiet and did not tell her mother of the incident until later. They also declared that the adult, who she said had witnessed the incident, should have done something after it was apparent that the child was not surfacing.
The relatives said that the mother “tried” with the children but they often disobeyed her. They accused the girl and her brothers of frequenting pool halls and gambling saying also that they were constantly at the Vreed-en-Hoop stelling begging. An older brother has a job.
This was confirmed by boatmen at the Vreed-en-Hoop stelling who said that they were often present there begging.
Relatives said their mother “does gat foh work foh mine them” but they didn’t listen to her often skipping school and going to the stelling instead. “Whole day dem does dey pon the road,” a relative declared.
Neville leaves to mourn his mother, sister and three brothers. A post-mortem examination will be conducted tomorrow.
