分类： society

Five teenagers lost their lives and two others were injured in a devastating high-profile traffic collision on Shirley Street, The Bahamas, last month – the deadliest road accident the nation has seen in at least two decades. Among the victims were 19-year-old Stania Webb and 17-year-old Diamond Stubbs, two lifelong best friends whose bond stretched from childhood on Cat Island through Stania’s college years. Now, Stania’s grieving father, Stanley Webb, is honoring their unbreakable connection by building matching adjacent mausoleums for the pair in a Cat Island cemetery, with support from his family and a groundswell of local volunteers.

Stania and Diamond grew up steps away from each other on Cat Island, and their friendship never wavered even after Stania graduated high school and moved away for college. Every time Stania returned home, she would spend one to two weeks staying with Diamond, relaxing and enjoying their shared time together. When the two young women died alongside three other teenagers in the June 28 crash, Stanley knew they could not be separated in death.

The 19-year-old driver of the vehicle involved, Marcus Thacker Jr, faces five counts of vehicular manslaughter in connection with the crash. The other victims killed were 19-year-old Keno Gordon Jr, 18-year-old Bertrica Brown, and 19-year-old Evalena Johnson. Two additional crash survivors – 21-year-old Shawn Thurston and Bianca Mathurin – remain hospitalized recovering from their injuries.

Unlike traditional underground burials, which Stanley said he fears could become hard to locate or access decades in the future, the above-ground mausoleums will give him a dedicated space to visit his daughter and his goddaughter Diamond. “I wanted just to put something there in the cemetery where I could come back,” he explained. “You know, sit down or drop a rose and be able to know exactly where she is on her birthday or some days I just might want to come and say hello.” After reworking his original design, Stanley now plans to build the two mausoleums opposite one another, with a small flower garden filling the space between them.

The construction effort has been a community-led labor of love. Stanley’s two oldest sons, 25-year-old Teran and 21-year-old Ashstan, have worked alongside their father every step of the way, and hundreds of local residents have stepped up to volunteer their time, bringing food and water for the workers and helping with hands-on tasks like mixing cement. Stanley, who still has four surviving sons, said the outpouring of support has helped him carry on through his profound grief.

The pair will be laid to rest in the Cat Island mausoleums on July 25, with their bodies transported to the island the day prior. A public memorial service will be held for the two teens in New Providence on July 16 for anyone unable to travel to Cat Island for the burial. That same day, Bertrica Brown’s family will host a separate memorial for her in New Providence before moving her body to Abaco for her final burial.

In the wake of the tragedy, Stanley has issued a public warning to Nassau residents: reports of people soliciting cash donations on the street in his family’s name are not authorized. “We want the public at large to know that we didn’t authorise anybody to go on our behalf and ask for anything,” he stressed, adding that all volunteer support the project has received has been freely given out of community care, and he is deeply grateful to every person who has stepped forward to help.

Separately, Attorney General Wayne Munroe addressed the case with reporters this week, noting that convictions for dangerous driving that causes multiple deaths typically result in custodial sentences in The Bahamas. He cited a past case from Grand Bahama, where a young driver who sped off the road and killed three passengers was sentenced to 18 months in prison, a ruling that was later upheld by the Court of Appeal.

On a Sunday when an entire country lost electrical power, an unlikely set of circumstances led to the life-saving discovery of an 8-month-old puppy trapped inside a discarded washing machine — an incident that has pulled back the curtain on a appalling animal abuse case and reignited demands for stricter enforcement against cruelty to animals.

The young black-and-brown Bahamian potcake dog was located in dense brush adjacent to Charles Saunders Highway, after Sea Breeze resident Sharon Ferguson caught a faint whimpering sound while she and her family sat outside their home waiting out the blackout. With the constant hum of generators, traffic and household appliances silenced by the power failure, the quiet allowed Ferguson to pick up on the subtle cries for help that had gone unnoticed for days.

Ferguson initially assumed the sound came from a neighbor’s pet, but the repeated faint cries convinced her an animal was in serious danger. “We were on the patio, just trying to stay cool and talking when I heard what sounded like a dog,” she recalled. “I kept hearing it, and I told my daughter we should go check it out because the noise seemed to come from deep in the bush.”

Ferguson and her daughter drove to the remote area off the highway and spotted an old, abandoned washing machine tucked off a dirt path. Even though the whimpering had temporarily stopped, they cut their engine and quickly picked up the faint sound again. Uncertain what they would find inside, they went back to their home to gather protective gloves, food, water and Ferguson’s son before returning to the site.

When the rescuers pried open the washing machine’s lid, they found the tiny puppy poking her shaking head out to greet them. “We were so emotional because we’re both huge animal lovers,” Ferguson said. The puppy, terrified and trembling, had to struggle to pull herself out of the confined space, where a heavy rock had been weighted on top of the lid to trap her inside. After escaping, the puppy initially fled back into the nearby bushes, but rescuers eventually coaxed her out and brought her to Ferguson’s home.

Ferguson’s daughter convinced the family to keep the puppy safe until animal welfare groups could take over, arguing that whoever trapped her could do even more harm if she was found again. Despite her terrifying ordeal, Ferguson described the puppy as playful and friendly. She noted the puppy showed no signs of severe malnutrition, suggesting she had not been trapped for more than a few days, though she had a minor skin irritation on her abdomen.

The puppy remained in Ferguson’s care until Tuesday morning, when the Bahamas Alliance for Animal Rights and Kindness (BAARK) took her into their custody. The Bahamas Humane Society also sent a team to check on the puppy’s health on Monday.

Veterinarian Dr. Daniel Kats, who responded to the rescue after seeing video of the discovery circulating on social media, echoed Ferguson’s assessment that the blackout was directly responsible for saving the puppy’s life. The rescue site was just minutes from his home, so he rushed over to provide emergency medical care. “What saved this dog was the blackout,” Dr. Kats said. “When power went out, everything went completely quiet, and that’s when they could hear her whimpering.”

Dr. Kats said he was horrified by what he found at the scene. Even with the central agitator taking up most of the space inside, there was barely enough room for the puppy to curl up — she could not even stand upright. “She had to squeeze into a little circle just to fit,” he explained, adding that he believes she was trapped for as many as three days.

Local residents told Dr. Kats the puppy had been roaming the neighborhood for roughly two weeks, with multiple locals leaving food out for her. No one has come forward to claim ownership, and it remains unclear how she ended up locked in the washing machine. Dr. Kats noted the puppy was extraordinarily lucky to survive, given the extreme Bahamian heat that day. “It was piping hot outside,” he said. “The little bit of shade inside the machine probably kept her alive. If she’d been out in direct sun, she never would have made it past 24 hours.”

Examination of the washing machine revealed bite marks on the plastic agitator, confirming the puppy had chewed frantically to try to escape. As of the latest update, the 8-month-old puppy is in stable condition at BAARK’s facility, with no major life-threatening health concerns. “She’s happy, she’s healthy, and we don’t have any concerns about her right now,” Dr. Kats said. “That said, everyone who’s heard about this is just shaken that an innocent little puppy could be put through something like this.”

BAARK Vice-President Lissa McCombe issued a strong condemnation of the incident, calling it a “despicable crime.” She added that Bahamian law allows for legal penalties against those convicted of animal cruelty, and investigators are working to identify the person responsible. In the coming days, the puppy will be spayed, microchipped and placed into a foster home, before being matched with a permanent adoptive family.

A video of the rescue posted by Ferguson to Facebook has quickly gone viral, earning more than 400 shares and 1,000 reactions as of Tuesday. Hundreds of social media users have commented, expressing outrage at the alleged cruelty and praising Ferguson and her family for their quick action that saved the puppy’s life.

A viral video of a police officer striking a restrained man during a high-profile international basketball game featuring the Bahamas National Team has sparked widespread public outrage and triggered an internal investigation by the Royal Bahamas Police Force (RBPF). Deputy Assistant Commissioner of Police Anthony Rolle has publicly stated that the RBPF does not tolerate the inappropriate conduct captured in the footage, which spread rapidly across social media platforms in the hours after Monday night’s game.

The incident unfolded at a crowded gymnasium venue, where police had been called to intervene in a spectator altercation in the bleachers. Video footage shows two officers detaining the man in question: one officer holds both of the man’s wrists to restrain him, while a second officer in khaki uniform conducts a pat-down search of the man’s clothing. Seconds after the search begins, the uniformed officer slaps the man hard across the face, a move that prompts an immediate audible gasp from nearby spectators watching the confrontation.

Prior to police arrival, the same man was filmed being attacked by multiple other spectators during the stands altercation, according to additional footage circulating online. Still, the use of force against an already restrained individual has drawn sharp criticism from social media users, many of whom have raised broader questions about excessive use of force by Bahamian law enforcement, particularly at an international event that was being watched by audiences outside the country.

Online commentary has been uniformly critical of the officer’s actions. One user highlighted the awkward position of the incident on a global public stage, while another argued that the slap reflected a pattern of routine physical abuse among some members of the national police force. A third commentator noted that the officer involved appeared to be a senior member of the force, making the unprofessional conduct even more unacceptable given that the man posed no obvious threat while being held by a second officer.

ACP Rolle confirmed that the RBPF’s Complaints and Corruption Unit has taken charge of the investigation into the incident. Speaking to reporters, he emphasized that the behavior shown in the video does not align with RBPF standards, saying, “It’s not something that we condone.” He declined to share additional details about the incident or the officer involved, noting that an open investigation requires fairness to all parties involved. Once the internal inquiry is complete, Rolle said investigative findings will be passed to the Commissioner of Police, who will review the full case file and determine what disciplinary or other action is appropriate.