ON March 4, 2026 Jamaica was left shaken when 16-year-old Devonie Shearer, a student of Ocho Rios High School in St Ann, was fatally struck in the head with a metal chair, allegedly wielded by a 17-year-old schoolmate. Exactly two months later, on May 4, an 11-year-old boy at St John’s Preparatory School in the same parish said he feared he would suffer the same deadly fate as he was surrounded and beaten by five schoolmates, one of whom lifted a chair to hit him.

Reports from the school indicate that the incident began as a ‘play fight’, which escalated following a verbal exchange while teachers were occupied assisting students taking graduation photographs. The students accused of being involved were subsequently withdrawn from the school pending an investigation.

However, the 11-year-old boy and his mother, who requested anonymity, view the incident as a matter of life and death. The mother said she has since withdrawn her son from the school and is now contemplating legal action, expressing outrage that she learned of the incident from her child, rather than being formally notified by the school.