Marie-Jeanne Gustave, mother of Kenm Paul, who died after a stabbing at school on Tuesday. Photo: Donavan McIntosh/Tribune staff
By EARYEL BOWLEG
Tribune Staff Reporter
ebowleg@tribunemedia.net
THE mother of the teenager who was fatally stabbed during an altercation at school on Tuesday said when she first got a call from officials to head to the hospital, she had no idea her child had been killed.
Speaking to The Tribune from her home yesterday, Marie-Jeanne Gustave was visibly grief stricken as she recalled the first time the school called her about her “quiet” 15-year-old son, Kenm Paul. It was a call that delivered some devastating news.
The 11th grader and another student were stabbed on Tuesday at Government High School. Kenm died while the other was taken to the hospital and is listed in serious condition. The deceased’s brother, Stanley Paul, said the 15-year-old’s close friend was the other student injured.
The mother revealed that when she was contacted by school officials, they informed her that something had happened to him, however the seriousness of the situation was not conveyed at that moment.
“I feel very very bad. This is my last son,” she said with tears in her eyes, shortly after viewing her son’s body.
“I love him very much. I can’t explain to you how I feel now. It is very hard for me. . .they just kill him.”
She said the day of the incident, the school’s principal called her at work asking if she was Kenm’s mother.
“She said they want me to go by the hospital,” the teen’s mother said.
“I catch the bus and I go there. When I reached the hospital, the security let me inside. When I reached inside, I met somebody, must be the school people, she was waiting for me.
“Since I reach, she called the principal, she said ‘Kenm mummy reach.’ After that she stayed a couple minutes with me and she gone. I see a nurse come from inside the room and I questioned her and I say ‘I’m Kenm Paul’s mummy. The school called me to come (to) the hospital. They say something happened to Kenm.’
“I asked her if I could see him, she said no I can’t see him and I said ‘Can you tell me what happened please?’ She said Kenm okay. She said nothing happened - Kenm okay.
“….Nobody can tell me nothing. I don’t know if he still living or if he still in the hospital room. When I start crying, one (person came out) and she asked me if my son is the dark one. I said yes and she said the dark one died.”
Kenm’s brother is saddened that he did not get to see his younger sibling before he left for school on that fateful day.
“I only saw him that night before and every morning mostly he comes knocking on my door and asks me to get some cologne for him to go to school, but he ain’t ask me that morning,” Mr Paul said.
“He ain’t even come knock on my door that morning. He just gone.”
He remembered his brother as a “good person” and made it clear the 15-year-old was not in a gang. He said Kenm had dreams of studying overseas and playing sports.
“He was hard-headed and he was rebellious and he was a hot head, but he wouldn’t bother no one unless you bother him,” Mr Paul said.
Yesterday, National Security Minister Marvin Dames noted that the perpetrators have not been turned in, despite police speaking to parents and other relatives.
Asked what he would say to the parents who have not turned in the suspected assailants, Mr Paul said: “The only good thing I could say is they (are) wrong. They are wrong for what they are doing. That’s if they know where the children is, for real they are wrong for what they doing.”
He is now focused on supporting his mother through this difficult time.
“I have to be strong because if I don’t be strong, my mummy is all I have, and I can’t lose two people in the same year so I have to stay strong so I can help comfort her.”
Comments
Ashinnabash 3 years, 5 months ago
This is very saddening may he rest in peace.
Godson 3 years, 5 months ago
My sincerest and heartfelt condolences to the family, mother, and brother.
Dear Bahamas, in light of this tragedy - which is too often repeated, I alone, or it seems, am asking the question, "what has become the interests and focus of our youths, their thoughts or the line and extent of their conversations that leads them to this violent threshold of malevolence?".
Inherently, the answer is within the question. However, first, we have got to get rid of these visionless, clueless, discontented and lazy leaders who come under the umbrellas of the Free National Movement (FNM) and the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP)
Cobalt 3 years, 5 months ago
So it’s the FNM and PLP’s fault when a student is stabbed? Furthermore, will getting rid of them stop the violence among our adolescents? Certainly not. Place the blame where it belongs; on the perpetrator himself. He/she is old enough to discern right from wrong.
themessenger 3 years, 5 months ago
What we need to remedy is the visionless, clueless,discontented and disconnected individuals who bring these children into the world and abandon all responsibility for them at their birth. The gubment did gie dem a hard on, da gubment did make her open up her leg, da gubment is responsible fa raising dey chirren SMT!
themessenger 3 years, 5 months ago
So sick and tired of our people not being responsible or being held responsible and accountable for their indiscretions.
Sickened 3 years, 5 months ago
As a parent of 2 young kids I say take the parents into custody until the children are found. Either they know where the kids are and are not saying or the children will hear about the parents being 'locked up' until the kids turn themselves in.
bogart 3 years, 5 months ago
Very distressing and sad that young 15 year old grade 11 student and another student having conversation in GHS school corridor gets stabbed by others, 15 year old dying and other being injured.. No students on this small, small island should be stabbed in the govt school corridor, one dying in corridor. Very distressing, very sad
birdiestrachan 3 years, 5 months ago
When I heard a young man had been killed. in school, My first thought was the parents and their grief
Parents expect their children to be safe at school. they expect them to come back home.
it is all very sad... .
UN 3 years, 5 months ago
When I was in grade 7, my 14 year old brother was ambushed the same way: cornered at school, rocks to head = life forever ruined. Police and teachers didn’t care so those thugs never got punished.
In this case: if they’re minors - it will mean making sure their ‘innocent’ widdle faces are covered with a blankie and/or bib (then @ age 22 they’ll get jobs aka twitch it up in McDonalds = everything forgotten)..
sheeprunner12 3 years, 5 months ago
Just unbelievable that no one ever sees or knows any warning signs about the perps or the bullied ......... until this happens ........ their peers, parents, teachers, admin, community all asleep at the wheel and nobody observing the festering situation??????
Or ........... are the teens really that good at keeping all of this a secret from everyone??????
These boys (on both sides of the tragedy) didn't just wake up that day with (bad) intentions ........ it took days, weeks or months of stewing, vibing, or plotting to get to this point.
Godson 3 years, 5 months ago
EXACTLY!!! My point... Isn't anyone, besides me, the least bit curious as to what is the conversational dialogue of these youths?
thephoenix562 3 years, 5 months ago
The elephant in the room is that in public schools there is daily feuding between Bahamian students and so called Haitian (Bahamians) and those perceived as such. That is a fact. When I was in school this was not an issue, but times have changed. I was advised many years ago by a Teacher in public schools to never send my children to public schools. So said so done. I witnessed a young girl stabbed in the arm with a bottle for doing her duties as a prefect. I was threatened and physically attacked and almost lost an eye after i was hit by a rock when i was Head Boy.
John 3 years, 5 months ago
When growing up, one of the most ungodly things you can ever do is pick up an edge tool like a knife or screwdriver or even weapons like a hammer or baseball bat to go fight . The beating one would get for arming himself in such deadly fashion. And if it happened on a school campus, that was definite suspension and even expulsion. Today young men and boys arm themselves with these type weapons and obviously are very prepared to use them. And as they get older they graduate. Guns and ammunition. How did the country get to this?
Emilio26 3 years, 5 months ago
John it seems like younger generation is getting worse than the kids that were born in the late 80s and early 90s.
John 3 years, 5 months ago
The Bahamas is in the TOP TEN for countries having the most prisoners per capital. Of course TThe United States heads the list while having only 7 percent of the world’s population, it has 90 percent of the world’s prisoners. And other countries on the list that have more prisoners per capita than The Bahamas include countries like Rawanda, El Salvador and Cuba. This country’s prison population started to grow, then exploded when the country ‘signed on’ to America’s FAKE ‘War on Drugs’ and started to send young men to prison for long periods for small amounts of marijuana (. And some of the new proposed legislation giving up to 40 years and 1/2 million dollar fines for as little as 2 pounds of marijuana seems to be even more draconian with the potential to damage and destroy even more young men). And so they would parade these young men chained, handcuffed and shackled through the main square , guarded by heavily armed policemen. And plaster their photos across the news and the newspapers. And in everyone’s eyesight and thinking, these men who only possessed small amounts of marijuana were dangerous. And as the police became more armed against these ‘dangerous criminals’. Persons in the community felt the need to bear arms, guns became common on the streets and school children started arming themselves with knives and other weapons. The problem is the heavily arming of police came ways before the streets became heavily armed. It was not unusual to go to Junkanoo or a concert or some other social or national event, even school sports and be met with police armed with high powered assault weapons. And it gave the impression that the country was unsafe and was subject to attack at any minute. Imagine the impression on tourists attending these events from Canada, the United Kingdom or even the United States. Even these countries do not arm their police in this fashion to offer security at social and sporting events. And it didn’t stop there. During Elections, former Prime Minister, Lynden Pindling developed the habit of placing heavily armed Defense Force officers at major power substations, water plants and distribution sites and major government offices. Marvin Dames took it even further when he brought out defense force officers and artillery for his own employees. So young men and the general public over the decades have been given this (no longer false) sense of insecurity and see the need to arm themselves. Even at weddings and funerals! The chickens have, indeed come home to roost. May the soul of the departed Rest In Peace.
thephoenix562 3 years, 5 months ago
Actually according to World prison brief the Bahamas is #152.
https://www.prisonstudies.org/highest-t…
John 3 years, 5 months ago
That is per population not per capita
BONEFISH 3 years, 5 months ago
My sincere condolences to the family. A very sad situaton.
Over the years, there have been several murders on or near school campuses on New Providence. A young man was murdered on the grounds of C.I. Gibson. A young man was murdered near A..F Adderley at the Hugh Campbell tournament when he attempted to stop some men from stealing his shades. A young man from C.V.Bethel was stabbed to death at the shopping center East Street South. A young man was stabbed on Horse Shoe Drive walking home from T.A Thompson school .He died in the hospital. I personally knew two young men who were stabbed to death in the Coconut Grove area.
There is a lot deeply rooted social problems on the island of New Providence. These problems manifest themselves in the crime, anger and frustration. Everybody needs to come together and put their heads together to come up solutions to these problems.
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