The na­tion is reel­ing from the trag­ic death of 12-year-old Mer­cedez Layne, spark­ing grief and out­rage across Trinidad and To­ba­go.

Op­po­si­tion Leader Pen­ne­lope Beck­les is­sued a heart­felt state­ment on June 7, ex­press­ing pro­found sor­row and ex­tend­ing con­do­lences to Layne’s fam­i­ly. Beck­les em­pha­sized that the dev­as­tat­ing news has shak­en the en­tire coun­try, touch­ing not on­ly her loved ones but al­so class­mates, teach­ers at Erin R.C. School, and the wider Erin com­mu­ni­ty.

She praised the Trinidad and To­ba­go Po­lice Ser­vice, the Hunters Search and Res­cue Team, vol­un­teers, and con­cerned cit­i­zens for their tire­less ef­forts dur­ing the search. Their ded­i­ca­tion, she not­ed, de­serves the high­est com­men­da­tion.