An autopsy performed on the remains of 11-year-old Tinesha Johnson of No.50 Village, Corentyne, Berbice proved that she died as a result of asphyxia, or suffocation.
The post-mortem was on Thursday performed by Pathologist Dr Vivekanand Bridgemohan on the remains of the pre-teen, who was found dead under a hammock. It was reported that the child’s 35-year-old mother Latoya Lavric, also called “Toya”, said she had left her four children at home and had gone to purchase fish from a mobile vendor on the public road about 50 metres away from her home.
The child’s mother said she was delayed while making her fish purchase, but maintained that she was not away for a lengthy period of time. While making the purchase, the woman’s nine-year-old son rushed out to her with news that something was wrong with his sister.
According to the late Tinesha’s older sister, Tinesha Johnson was seen alive and jolly.
“When my sister come downstairs and swinging for her, she was swinging in the hammock; but a couple minutes after, mommy called for the money, and while I was coming downstairs to put on my slippers, I raised my head and I see her on her knees in the hammock – her neck wrap around the hammock. I went and checked on her and told her to get up now, ‘You can’t fool me’, but then I didn’t see her respond, and I held her hand and loose it and it drop down,” she said.
The sister said she raised her sister’s clothing to see if she was breathing, but she was not. The former first-form student of the Tagore Secondary School was picked up and taken to the Skeldon Public Hospital, where she was pronounced dead on arrival.
