D’Angel, Tanya Stephens, DHQ Carlene And Razor B Join Protest Against Danielle Rowe’s Murder

Entertainers D’Angel, Tanya Stephens, Dancehall Queen (DHQ) Carlene and Razor B were among a scanty gathering at Emancipation Park, Kingston, on Tuesday, condemning violence against children.

The demonstration was catalysed by the murder of eight-year-old Danielle Rowe, who was abducted after leaving Braeton and Infant School in St. Catherine on Thursday. She was later discovered in Vineyard Town, Kingston, with a slashed throat. She succumbed to her injuries on Saturday morning at the Bustamante Hospital for Children.

During the protest, an image of a woman last seen with Danielle was released courtesy of footage taken from closed-circuit television (CCTV) and an Electronic Facial Identification technique. 

Anyone with information regarding the woman’s whereabouts is asked to contact the Half-Way Tree Police (876-926-8184-6), the police (119), Crime Stop (311), or visit the nearest police station.

Describing Danielle as someone who could have been the next Prime Minister, D’Angel said, “At the end of the day, Jamaica wasn’t like this, so, I’m not sure what is causing all of this crime and violence against our youths… I’ve been lobbying about it since I sang We Can Survive – a song about crime and violence against women and children – and it went unnoticed… We don’t need to turn a blind eye on these situations. If you know who the criminals are that’s killing our women and children, point them out…”

Big on action, Stephens challenged Jamaicans to meet and find effective crime-fighting solutions, adding that it starts with supporting initiatives like the protest. 

“All a we pickney dem fi safe and able fi go from home to school, from school to home, without fear,” the What a Day singer said. “We need fi go back to the days in Jamaica when we used to coulda ramp pon the road a night time and we did safe… We have to do something and we can’t just keep saying we want something different; we have to actually do something different.”

Danielle’s murder has sparked the budding installation of CCTV cameras at the entrances of primary schools, announced by Minister of Education and Youth Fayval Williams on Monday. DHQ Carlene appreciates the effort, but cautioned, “making sure they’re working is the other thing because it don’t make any sense if the cameras are there and we can’t go back to them.”

The dancer-cum-philanthropist was joined by her daughter Crystal Davis, who was visibly shaken up and reticent. Carlene was also disappointed in the low turnout, and encouraged people to come on Wednesday as they continue to make their voices heard. 

“Come on Jamaica; we can’t just do this,” she said. “We can’t just murder our women and our children and our old people, and think it’s okay – it’s not okay… This is not about the government only. Yes, we need the government…but it’s about we being our brother’s keeper. It’s about we helping each other. It’s about we standing up for each other.”

Echoing her sentiments was singjay Razor B. 

“Out here shoulda full up; mi very disappointed in Jamaica,” he said. “Dem murder an eight year old and di whole a di country nuh come out? It should be millions of us out here. Wait until it reach a one of unno doorstep – a dem time deh unno a go want the artist dem come out and support. Unno have to start somewhere.”

Danielle joins the list of child murders which have ignited national outrage, notably eight-year-old Shante Skyers who was found among debris in Sterling Castle Heights, St. Andrew, in 2019; 14-year-old Yetanya Francis, whose charred, nude body was discovered in 2018 in her Arnett Gardens, Kingston, community; 14-year-old Shanoya Wray, whose remains were found in a bathtub filled with corrosive chemicals in Mona, St. Andrew in 2018; and the haunting case of Ananda Dean who was found in a decomposed state – naked and headless – in Belvedere, St. Andrew, in 2008. The case of the 11 year old inspired the Ananda Alert system for reporting missing children.