Murdered Aishalton schoolgirl Amanda Smith, suffered injuries to head, face and neck

by Michael Jordan

Twelve-year-old Amanda Smith died from a brutal beating.

That’s the conclusion that investigators have come to after receiving an extensive report of the autopsy that was performed on Tuesday, May 2, on the grade seven, Aishalton Secondary School student.

The cause of death was given as brain hemorrhage, caused by blunt trauma to the head and face, compounded by compression injuries to the neck.

A teenage relative, who is in custody, has confirmed that he was present at the time of Amanda’s death.

But he insists that she collapsed on a concrete floor and died after tripping over one of his feet and hitting her head.

While the suspect’s father gave his age as 17, a police report stated that he is 16 and is a school dropout.

The motive for the killing is unclear.

Amanda’s body was found at around 8.45 p.m. on Saturday, April 22, in her parents’ backyard at Aishalton Village, South Rupununi. The victim’s 14-year-old brother told police that he saw the suspect fleeing the scene. Police arrested the suspect on Thursday, May 4.

Big Smith News Watch understands that investigators brought the teen back to the crime scene.

In his father’s presence, they conducted a video-taped interview, during which the youth was cautioned and asked to explain the events leading up to Amanda’s death.

He allegedly stated that on the night of April 22, he went to the victim’s home to check on the children (aged 14, nine, seven and four), since the children’s parents had gone out.

He stated that Samantha’s 14-year-old brother went outside to use a toilet.

He said that Samantha was “rushing to the door” to also use the washroom, when “he put out his foot and tripped her.”

He claimed that she struck her head on the wall near the door and became unconscious. He claimed that he panicked and took her to the back of the yard. It was then that he heard the schoolgirl’s brother calling for her. He then fled the scene.

A relative of the slain girl said the suspect was eventually nabbed “near to a creek” in the community.

Senior police officials have expressed alarm at the brutal killing of women, with the latest victim being 46-year-old Kim Halley, who was stabbed and slashed to death by her spouse on Thursday, May 4, in the Alpha Hotel at Ogle, East Coast Demerara.