In a poignant tribute to nine-year-old Kelsey Ferrigon, who tragically misplaced her life on Might 9, 2025, a scholarship is being established in her reminiscence at St. John’s Main Faculty in St. Catherine.
The announcement was made by Principal Louise Clarke throughout a thanksgiving service held on Monday on the Spanish City Seventh-day Adventist Church.
Kelsey, a pupil at St. John’s Main on the time of her passing, was remembered by Principal Clarke as a “bright-eyed, hard-working pupil, who all the time confirmed nice enthusiasm for studying.” Ms. Clarke shared that Kelsey was a quiet and shiny youngster who joined the St. John’s household on September 5, 2022. Her trainer described her as a “problem-solver, the one who was all the time making an attempt to repair no matter was flawed within the class.”
“The identify Kelsey Ferrigon will reside on at St John’s Main, that nice establishment the place she was a pupil for a short while, by way of the sort initiative of a scholarship being introduced to us by the St. Catherine Chamber of Commerce,” Ms. Clarke instructed Kelsey’s grieving mom and members of the congregation.
Lamenting the profound loss, Ms. Clarke expressed her sorrow, noting that Kelsey’s life was “snatched away throughout a month when youngsters have been being celebrated.” Might is noticed yearly as Youngster Month in Jamaica, specializing in recognizing and celebrating youngsters, selling their rights, and highlighting their significance in society. Satirically, this yr’s theme was ‘Act Now: Stand In opposition to Youngster Abuse and Exploitation’.
Kelsey’s brutal killing has despatched shockwaves not solely throughout the island but additionally by way of the Jamaican diaspora group. In response, a Florida-based Jamaican diaspora group, the Feminine Growth World Group (FDWO), issued an urgent call for fast legislative motion to strengthen youngster safety legal guidelines in Jamaica.
The FDWO, which advocates for the safety and rights of susceptible populations, demanded swift reforms following revelations that the suspect in Kelsey’s killing, Giovanni Ellis, was a convicted intercourse offender out on bail for a rape cost. Ellis was later fatally shot throughout a police operation close to Sandy Bay, Clarendon, after being named an individual of curiosity and deemed armed and harmful by authorities.
Kelsey Ferrigon was discovered lifeless at her Spanish City house on the night time of Friday, Might 9. Her 16-year-old brother made the horrific discovery inside a barrel whereas their mom was away. Police studies point out that Kelsey was partially nude and confirmed indicators of bodily abuse, main investigators to consider she had been sexually assaulted earlier than her loss of life.
The Jamaican authorities later mentioned it’s shifting to review legislation governing entry to the nation’s intercourse offenders registry.
