FUNERAL HELD FOR 4 AND 5 YO WHO DIED MYSTERIOUSLY

Fifteen-year-old Devian always saw himself caring for his younger siblings in the future. “I remember how I would always talk about when I grow up, I’d be in the army and I’d always pick you up from school in my car and go with you to buy ice cream,” he said, as he stared on the casket bearing the five- and four-year-old girls.

“Now I can’t see that future anymore,” he continued, as the congregation moaned in agony.

The sisters were found motionless at their home in Washington Court Apartments in Kingston by their brother, who was tasked with caring for them while their mother, Rosden Hewit, was in Ocho Rios on business.

The police reported that five-year-old Rosrick King and four-year-old Rosricka King were pronounced dead at Bustamante Hospital for Children on May 6 after they were rushed there by an aunt.

The hospital summoned the police, who reported that “upon arrival the bodies of the deceased girls were seen with frothy mucus, with blood gushing from their nostrils and mouths; their lips, the palms of their hands and feet appeared to be blue in colour and what appeared to be urine [was] on their clothing.”

Based on preliminary examinations conducted by doctors, the cause of the deaths was suspected to be consistent with strangulation.

ving service was held, their brother, for the last time, told his sisters how much he loved them.
“Nowadays when I look at or try to say the word family it is hard for me, because the family is incomplete. I remember when I’d come home from school or after going to the supermarket, you always rushed to the door to greet me, sometimes making me fall to the floor,” he said. “Rosrick and Rosricka, don’t think it is over, we will meet again.”

RK and Ricka, as they were affectionately called, were the only females in the family’s second generation, and for this they were dearly cherished. Their aunts tearfully rehashed some memories of their only nieces.

“I look back from their birth and being there, and seeing how my sister almost died having them both and now they’re gone. I can’t see our family without them in it, but only God knows, only God knows why He had to take them from us at this time. I have so many questions but no answers,” Rosene Hewit said as tears flowed down her cheeks.

Rosannie Hewit, another aunt, could not come to terms with the many life hurdles she’d miss.

“I will never get to see you both change your teeth, or even grow up. I may never understand why you both left us at the same time, but I know you are both in a better place right now,” she stressed as she sobbed.

Just one year apart, like their mother and Rosene, the sisters were also remembered for their inseparability. They were believed to be twins because of how close they were.

“Rosrick had the personality of a little woman — intelligent and could hold a mature conversation with you at any time. A huge girly girl she loved to be and was always interested in everything I wore. I can remember her saying, ‘Aunty, I’m gonna be just like you and mommy when I grow up,’” Roshaine Hewit rehashed as her voice cracked and tears flowed down her face.

“Rosricka, on the other hand, lived in her own little world, always playful and loved tailing behind her big sister RK. Like every four-year-old, you could see that she had a million and one things going on in her head all at once,” she added.

The children attended United Early Childhood Development Centre. Class three teacher Miss White revealed that RK was being trained for the sign language piece to be presented at the Child Month concert and graduation. The students, in tribute, performed the piece yesterday.

“They were bright girls, eager and quick to learn, and their brains seemed to absorb information like a sponge. They were never afraid to express themselves or their true feelings,” their grandmother Rosemarie Hewit noted as she read the remembrance.

She also recalled her granddaughters’ special way of communicating, and the void the girls’ deaths now brings.

“Both girls had their unique ways of doing and saying things, which is etched in the minds of the family. RK would say ‘where is my pippas’ whenever she needs her slippers. Instead of saying suppose, she would say ‘repopse’, and she called Harry Potter in the Harry Potter movie, Harry Butter,” Rosemarie said to sparse chuckles.

“When Ricka was learning her colours, she would say ‘lellow’ instead of yellow. She would say butter, instead of peanut butter and would request peanut butter only, no jelly. One evening after work I visited their home and as soon as I sat in the chair Ricka bent to rub my stocking legs, then she looked up and asked ‘Womma (Mama), is this your legs fi true,’” she continued, bringing more laughter to the sombre church.

Going off script, Rosemarie highlighted her daughter’s remarkable strength and encouraged her to continue being strong.

“Yesterday when I was at the funeral parlour, and I admired my daughters [because] I don’t know if you have seen them in the casket, but their hair was combed by their mother and I know that God gave her that strength to do it. I know that God will take you through, Rosden, and I know without a shadow of a doubt, Rosden, that He’s here with you because very few people can do what you have done, hurting so much,” she said to thunderous applause.

The children were interred at Dovecot Memorial Park in the parish.