Anguish as teen beaten to death

A relative has been taken into custody following the attack and subsequent death of 15-year-old Jamila Cole of Cotton Tree, Albert Town, Trelawny.

Jamila, her mother Shanice Anderson and her 17-year-old cousin were beaten with wooden objects by two masked men who accessed their home at about 2 a.m. on Sunday through a window.

Jamila's father, Sherly, was inconsolable when he talked about how his daughter was beaten and left to die.

"Mi can't believe. All har colour change. She cyaah talk, nutten nah come out a har mouth. Mi seh Jah Jah," he said.

Jamila, who was a student at Troy High School, was tied up and left to die in a yam field near her home. She was taken to the Spaldings Hospital in Manchester, and later transferred to Kingston where she died Monday morning. All three women received head injuries. Anderson and the other teen are still being treated in Spaldings.

Reports are that the two girls were sleeping on a bed in a back room, while their mother was in the living area. It is believed the men beat the mother in her head first, knocking her unconscious before attacking the girls. The elder teen escaped, however, the men tied up Jamila. It is believed she was taken advantage of.

Anderson's younger child woke up and saw her mother in blood, and reportedly called her grandmother who lives next door. She then called her dad who lives overseas. It was her father who alerted the family that something seemed awry. According to the grandmother, Venis Anderson, she called the police and took her daughter-in-law to the hospital.