Up to late yesterday, the man held in connection with the murder of six-year-old Keyana “Ki-Ki” Cumberbatch, of Maloney, last week, was still in police custody. The man, 28, a close relative of Keyana, is also from Maloney. On Friday, Homicide Bureau officers said they had not labelled the man a suspect, since many people had access to the apartment where the child’s body was found. In her dying moments, Keyana was sexually assaulted by her killer, an autopsy revealed on Friday. She died as a result of massive cerebral trauma.
Forensic pathologist Dr Valery Alexandrov told members of the media, following the post-mortem at the Forensic Science Centre, St James, that the child was struck on the head so severely that her skull was cracked at the base. He said after she was hit and was unconscious, she was sexually assaulted. Keyana was found in a barrel in her mother’s apartment on Thursday, three days after she went missing. Her funeral is expected to take place on Wednesday.
A friend of the family told the T&T Guardian that Keyana’s body could have been found sooner, had police at the Maloney post acted with urgency. Lynette John said the police told them to return in 24 hours, as there were procedures that needed to be followed. The 56-year-old mother of three said when family members asked police to accompany them to search for the child they were told, “That is not how things is done.” She said by midnight on Wendesday, police came out in full force—some 80 hours after the initial report.
John said the child could have been found “while she was still warm” but owing to the sluggish police response, she was found three days later. A close family friend, Ava Nelson, said the police brought in sniffer dogs on Wednesday, and a day later the child was found in the same apartment. The women both said the police had not done enough.
In response, Senior Supt David Abraham, in charge of Northern Division, said the claims of the relatives were not truthful. He said he contacted the police post and was assured that they did all they could do immediately after receiving the report. He claimed the family was not told to return the next day. He said an investigation would be launched into the allegations. John said she, like any parent, was hurting right now. She said the child was like her own and she took care of her with pride.
John said when she was bathing Keyana, she would always ask if anyone was touching her inappropriately, and on each occasion the child said no. The woman showed the Leap Pad 2 that Keyana’s mother, Simone Williams, had bought for her this Christmas. She described Keyana as a happy child who said she wanted to be one of three things: a police officer, nurse or teacher. In tears, she said she would let justice take its course.
John wept as she asked God why she had to be going through what she described as the “worst that could happen to any mother.” John believed she was being punished. Both women claimed that police had warned John and her sons not to return to their home of 23 years, as residents had threatened to harm members of the family.
—reporting by Jensen Lavende