The Tribune

By LEANDRA ROLLE 

Tribune Chief Reporter 

lrolle@tribunemedia.net

A KNOWN patient of Sandilands Rehabilitation Centre is the suspect in the brutal sexual assault and murder of 12-year-old Adriel Moxey, with Commissioner of Police Clayton Fernander suggesting the man’s mental state could complicate efforts to interview him.

He said the 32-year-old man was taken to Princess Margaret Hospital after being injured during a fight with arresting officers.

“He is presently under heavy guard,” he said, adding that the man will be released from PMH and taken to Sandilands for evaluation.

“Officers are watching there like 24 hours. We know that we are unable to speak to him. At this time, the doctor is saying that we are unable to speak to him because of his (mental) condition.”

“We will wait for the doctor to indicate to us when it’s a good time, or if the investigators are able to speak with him if he’s in sound mind to really answer questions put together. So that’s why the DNA evidence is so crucial in that matter, and we are moving quickly to do just that.”

Commissioner Fernander, who said police are preparing DNA evidence from the victim and the suspect for testing over- seas, also revealed that officers responded to a pastor’s report of screams near where 12-year-old Adriel Moxey was later found murdered last week but suggested it was too dark for an effective search.

Police efforts to find Adriel drew scrutiny after Pastor Cleveland Wells, the founding pastor of Restoration Kingdom Ministries and Adriel’s pastor, said police never met him at the scene after he reported the screams to the Carmichael Police Station. A leading investigator said last week that he was unaware of any such report.

Commissioner Fernander said: “It was checked, but if you visit that scene that night, man, you can hardly see your hand in front of you. And we was able to check when they got there. The pastor had already left.”

Moxey, 12, a seventh-grade student at Anatol Rodgers High School, was found dead in bushes near Faith Avenue South last Wednesday, a day after she was reported missing.

Police said she was wearing only a shirt, with a cloth tied around her neck.

Commissioner Fernander confirmed that the minor had been sexually assaulted and strangled to death.

He also said she was not wearing a uniform, and police were still trying to locate her school belongings.

When asked why police believe they have the right suspect, he declined to share details, but said the suspect had notable injuries on the day of his arrest.

He said their confidence is based on the intelligence accumulated.

“We feel that we are on the right track, and we just want to dot the I’s and cross the T’s, and we will continue to,” he said. “We are not just leaving it as is. We continue to follow other lines of inquiry just to ensure, and as I indicated, we suspect based on the information that we retrieve, we believe that we may be on the right track, and we are moving quickly, either to exonerate him or put him before the court.” Adriel’s death has reignited concerns about the safety of children after school hours.

Last year, 28 bus drivers partnered with the Ministry of Education to launch a public school bus programme, allowing students to use the public bus system on campus.

Assistant Commissioner of Police Dr Chaswell Hanna, responsible for school safety, said the initiative is ongoing and will be strengthened to ensure students can travel directly from school to their neighbourhoods.

He added that five new officers will soon join the school policing division in partnership with the Ministry of Education to enhance student safety.

After Adriel’s death, Commissioner Fernander called on Bahamians to be their brother’s keeper and urged the Bahamas Christian Council to host a monthly national day of prayer.

He referred to a statement by Adriel’s mother during a media interview, in which she asked: “Where was the village when I needed them most?” The commissioner acknowledged the sentiment, stressing the mother’s call for greater community involvement.

“That hit home to me,” he said, “because we continue to talk about the village, and it appears as though the village is now fighting among themselves instead of trying to assist others, like we know how we grew up, looking out for others.”

Commissioner Fernander also revealed that police are partnering with Restview Memorial to assist with Adriel’s burial. This follows the launch of a GoFundMe campaign by her family to raise $15,000 for funeral expenses, despite some offers to cover certain aspects for free.