Tahera Roberts

Police are more than likely to bring a charge of murder against a St. Andrew's man in connection with the death Monday night of a ten-year old girl of Upper Capital, in Birch Grove.

A suspect, believed to be a close relative of the young girl, is currently assisting police in their investigations.

Tahera Roberts was pronounced within minutes of being taken to the Princess Alice Hospital in Mirabeau, St. Andrew's amidst a cloud of suspicion.

A police spokesman confirmed to this newspaper that an autopsy that was conducted on the child revealed that she died from strangulation. Conflicting reports reached the news desk of GRENADA TODAY Newspaper surrounding the untimely death of Roberts, a Grade 6 student of St. Matthew's Roman Catholic at Birch Grove.

One report said that Tahera's death resulted from lashes she received from a family member.   There are unconfirmed reports that the family member was seen beating his niece for allegedly eating his sausages.

The incident is believed to have taken place at a house in Beaureguard, St. Andrew's where Tahera's grandmother, Marcel Baptiste takes care of an elderly woman. This report was partially confirmed by Tahera's mother, Tara Roberts who said that she was not at the place where the incident took place and was kept in the dark.

Tahera and Mom

The mother said she was made to understand that the family member under suspicion spoke in a harsh manner to the child which resulted in her fainting to death. "What I heard is that like she (Tahera) interfered with some sausages in his (family member) and like the (family member) did not like it (she interfering with the sausages) and he quarreled with her," she added.

She claimed that the young student cannot take stress and as a result might have suffered from extreme seizure (fits). "Whenever you beat her (Tahera) too much or quarrel with her she usually faints," said the mother.

The child's mother stated that she herself took in sick late Monday night at a house in Upper Capital in Birch Grove and was rushed to the Princess Alice Hospital. While there, she said that she saw her own mother and brother  and inquired from them about the nature of their visit to the  hospital.

According to the mother of the deceased child it was then that she was told that Tahera is sick, but there was nothing to panic about. "They never called me and tell me anything because they were afraid that I will take it on because they know I am not well (myself," she said.

"When I went inside there (the room) I saw my child, I could have tell that she died, and on my way coming back out to let mummy know that the child is dead I saw a policeman coming after me," she added. Roberts indicated that the police officer asked to speak to both herself and the grand mother of the child and confirmed to them that the child had died. She described her only child as being very affectionate.

The report as given to this newspaper by the Roberts family was disputed by residents of Birchgrove. GRENADA TODAY learnt that it involved a case of sexual molestation of the child by another family member. Residents told a story of a particular family member always molesting the child, but on that occasion Tahera apparently resisted him which resulted in the person inflicting a deadly blow to the child.

Teachers at St. Matthew's Roman catholic School were in a somber mood when GRENADA TODAY visited the area. Earlier in the day, they held a Prayer Service at the nearby Catholic Church in memory of their former student.

Grade Six teacher Lindsay Farray who taught Tahera described her as a very promising student, one who is of secondary school material. Farray said it is proving difficult for the school to function normally as a result of the circumstances relating to the death of his student.