A 16-year-old boy was on Saturday night fatally stabbed in his chest by another teen while he was attending a school concert.
Dead is Brian Charles Yearwood, of Covent Garden Secondary School and of Lot 69 Public Road, Grove, East Bank Demerara. According to the police, the incident occurred around 8 pm on Saturday in the Covent Garden Nursery School Compound. Their investigations have so far revealed that Yearwood was stabbed once in the centre of his chest, allegedly by a 17-year-old boy from Kaneville, East Bank Demerara, who is now being sought by investigators.
When Stabroek News visited the home of the deceased yesterday, the relatives who spoke said that they are in shock that the lad died in such a manner. According to Veronica Yearwood, the teen’s grandmother, what was related to them by eyewitnesses was that an argument had ensued between the two boys, which eventually led to the stabbing of her grandson. Veronica said that she is unaware of what the argument was about but also said that the 17-year-old was apparently with a group who were picking on other children at the concert. According to her, the family learnt that after the stabbing the assailant ran away when an off-duty policeman intervened.
Yearwood’s mother, Beverly Yearwood, who was in tears, lamented to Stabroek News that the last words her son told her was that “he had to go”. She said that he left to go to the school’s concert sometime around 5 pm and that was the last time she saw her son alive. Beverly further added that she could not understand why her child was killed since he was a quiet boy. “We had no complaints coming from anyone, he was a good child, his teachers never had problems with him, we never have problems with him”, the mother said. She also told Stabroek News that her son never complained to her about anyone troubling him at school or anywhere in the neigbourhood. “My son was a quiet boy, he did his house chores, every morning he gets up sweeps the yard, washes his own clothes and now he is gone”, the mother said as tears rolled down her face. “I hope that the police find the killer”, Beverly declared.
Brian, who leaves to mourn his parents, grandparents and four siblings, was a past student of the Central High School but was recently transferred to the Covent Garden Secondary School, where he was a Fifth Form student.
According to a police source, there were four teens in custody over the stabbing but two were later released after questioning. The source said that the lad was discovered lying on the ground by a police constable, and was rushed to the Diamond Diagnostic Hospital, where he was pronounced dead by a doctor. Stabroek News understands that according to two other teens who were with Yearwood at the time, four males who they identified to the police, went up to Yearwood and one dealt him a cuff. After the fight the four men ran away.
Yearwood’s body is currently at the Lyken’s Funeral Parlour. A post-mortem is expected to be conducted on Wednesday.
