The Tribune

By KHRISNA RUSSELL

Tribune Chief Reporter

krussell@tribunemedia.net

PEOPLE living near the major subdivision apartment where four-year-old Bella Walker lived with relatives alleged she was living in a volatile environment, marked by constant fighting between adults in the home.

Yesterday, neighbours expressed guilt and remorse at not doing enough to get the relevant authorities to intervene on the child’s behalf.

Bella died at Princess Margaret Hospital on Friday after being brought to the facility unresponsive with several injuries about her body.

Police said a man and woman were in custody assisting with the investigation. There has been no confirmation of a cause of death and authorities await an autopsy.

 The tragedy has sparked outrage across the nation, triggering an outcry from many, including Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis, who called the matter “distressing.”

 In the aftermath of the situation, one elderly woman claimed there were two occasions when the girl was left alone in the apartment while the adults went to work.

 She recalled that the child had not been living at the residence for the majority of the more than two years that her relatives lived there.

 “On the first occasion the child was left home all by herself,” the elderly woman said. “She was sleeping and then got up and came over here.

 “My adopted son was coming (to) me and the child was in the road. He brought the child in and no one knew who she was.

 “I said if I don’t see anybody come round looking for this child, I would keep her for couple of hours and I would call the police and inform them. Low and behold she came in she said ‘Mama you have any apple? You have any juice? Any biscuit?’

 “I said ‘no baby’ but I sent my daughter to get two (biscuits) and I sat her right down there and we gave her something and told her don’t make no dirt.”

 The woman said that Bella stayed with her for more than an hour before a woman relative came home. She claimed the woman “never even came over to see” where the child had been “or to say thank you.”

 On another occasion, the resident told The Tribune that Bella had gone to another neighbour’s house when both adults left.

 She said upon their return, the female relative “raised all kinda hell” with that neighbour and allegedly spanked Bella for leaving the house.

 A man living nearby said another situation arose where an adult woman in the home asked him to call the police.

 “She said she was tired of this man hitting up on her and her daughter in there,” the man alleged in an interview yesterday. “I made several attempts to talk to them, but it made no difference. She always went back and they always fought.”

 In hindsight, neighbours now wish they had done more to help.

 They expressed fears that similar things may be happening at two other households in the area.

 “You know we think something like this is happening in two houses, but what can we do? If we call, word may get out that it’s us who made the report and these new set of guys living round here seem to have nothing to live for,” a neighbour claimed.

 Another told this newspaper: “If I had known it was like that, I would have definitely reported them. I felt so bad about it and hurt. I said, my Lord this just ain’t fair for this little girl. She didn’t deserve this.

 “But had I known she had no one here I would have tried to reach out to them and say come for this child. This is so disturbing to me and I feel guilty.”

 Mary Grant, Bella’s great grandmother told The Tribune on Sunday that relatives in Grand Bahama where she lived until recently felt that “we sent her to her death.”

 The little girl was living with her great grandparents from the time she was two weeks old until about two months ago when she was sent to stay with a relative in Nassau.

Yesterday, Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis said the matter was “distressing.”

 In a statement he said: “That a child should die in the circumstances being reported rightly stirs up the most profound feelings of disbelief, revulsion, and profound sadness.

 “As we grieve with her family and do all that we can to ensure that justice is served, let us honour her memory. Let us find ways to cherish how she lived, that her name means more than just the way that she died.

 “Let us do all that we can to ensure that no other child suffers the same fate. It goes far beyond what our laws can achieve and to the very idea of who we are.”

 “There are those in every society whose transgressions defy comprehension. Our job is to do what is necessary to prevent it,” Mr Davis said.

 Social Services and Urban Development Minister Obie Wilchcombe said people’s failure to be their brother’s keeper has come to light.

 The minister said: “Whatever the circumstances are, obviously something went totally wrong and while the police investigate it’s troubling.

 “Should this not be a wakeup call to us all? Should we sit idly by and allow something else to happen without making and ensuring there is some action?

 “This tells you that we’re a society that’s gone to sleep. We have to be alarmed by it and recognise and show our love for children.”