Family and friends said their final goodbyes to 17-year-old Arnold Joseph last Saturday at the Church of the Holy Family in Jacmel. Joseph, in his last year at the Entrepot Secondary School, was fatally shot by police on 22 May. Loved ones turned out mainly in red, Arnold’s favourite colour. His former home-room teacher, Ms. Sheralene Dosserie, delivered a moving tribute: “Arnold was known by every teacher, every student, and every worker at the Entrepot Secondary School . . . Arnold was known as one of the sweetest students at the school, one who left absolutely no record of being rude or disrespectful.”
She recalled that he wanted to pursue several careers. He had developed a special love for theatre arts. But theatre was not his only love, his teacher revealed; he also had a passion for music. She noted that once his classmates taught him how to mix music, in his own mind he was already a DJ. “DJ-ing was becoming Arnold’s life,” she said, “to the point it was the last thing we believe he did before his untimely demise. On the night his life was snatched from him, his life was snatched from us. He came from doing what he loved and what he did best.”
Through her tears, she said: “This gathering here should not have happened. We should all be celebrating Arnold on his graduation day. He was prematurely taken from us . . . Our Arnold, our Jonah, our Selector Jay is gone. He is no more. But his memories, they are forever etched in our hearts.”
At a vigil last week, Arnold’s father Columban Sextius vowed their family would march until justice was served. The next march, he said, will be for action to be taken against the involved officers. Meanwhile, the police addressed Arnold’s killing at a press conference on Thursday morning.
