omardavis

When 2022 rolled in, we anticipated a year of hope after two years of lockdown because of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, some news stories in 2022 turned out to be tear-jerkers.

This is a look back at the saddest and most shocking stories of the year.

1. Murder-Suicide of Fenron Ferguson and Heavenly Turveus (January)

Fenron Ferguson, a 24-year-old with his own business, shot himself in the head after killing his girlfriend, 20-year-old Heavenly Turveus. The couple who had a one-month-old baby boy was involved in a tumultuous relationship. Ferguson snuck into the home and committed the crime. The couple was found in her bedroom at her mother’s home. The baby was unharmed.

2. Woman Killed On Her Way to Prayer Meeting (January)

Church-goer Claudette Capron was murdered as she entered the church doors for a prayer meeting. She and her sister were in the parking lot of their church when a 17-year-old gunman chased another man, shooting Capron instead, who had turned around to retrieve a face mask from her vehicle.

3. Three Americans Discovered Dead in Exuma Resort (May)

Three Americans on vacation in Great Exuma were found dead in a resort where officials believed they suffered from carbon monoxide poisoning. Vincent Chiarella, 68, was found first in one villa slumped over in a bathroom and a couple, Michael Phillips, 68, and his wife, Robbie Phillips, 65, celebrating their wedding anniversary in a second villa, showed signs of convulsions. A surviving woman was hospitalized with swollen legs and arms. The tourists all died over the course of one evening.

4. Student Killed in a Park (June)

13-year-old Quinton McKenzie of LW Young School was found in a park in the Kemp Road area with bullets to the neck and jaw. Money was also found in his hand. It is believed the video gamer was playing a gambling game when shots were fired. He, with others, ran but he collapsed and died on the scene.

5. Young Woman Killed in Plane Crash (June)

Aleitheia Sweeting was killed in a plane crash after she and seven others returned from Regatta in Long Island. The young mother wished to return to Nassau early but met her fate after the plane took off. Survivors suffered a broken rib, and a bruised back after the twin-engine aircraft went down in bushes two miles from Deadman’s Cay Airport, as they waited to be found before help arrived. Sweeting was described as a sweet and joyous person.

6. Preschooler Killed by Stray Bullet (July)

4-year-old Kenton Seymour was killed while sitting on the lap of his mother when a bullet pierced the windshield of his father’s vehicle as the family took a late-night drive to get food. The gunman was chasing another man when a stray bullet hit the preschooler.

7. Migrants Overturned and Drowned on Human Smuggling Voyage (July)

17 Haitian migrants including an infant, capsized in a human smuggling operation. The group was trying to make their way to Florida for a better way of life, when their vessel capsized in rough seas and they drowned. Twenty-five people who also attempted to make the dangerous voyage were rescued and others were reported missing.

8. College Grad with Bright Future Murdered After Return from USA (August)

Omar Davis Jr, 21, had just returned from college after graduation when his body was found wrapped in a garbage bag and beaten with wounds to the head, face, and chest area. The grisly discovery in the back trunk of a vehicle came after he went missing the night before the incident when suspects put his body in a parked vehicle behind a grocery store. Davis was one of many Bahamians who received scholarships to attend college in the United States.

9. Bull Shark Kills Tourist on Private Excursion (September)

Cruise ship visitor from Pennysylvania, Caroline DiPlacido took a snorkeling excursion with her children when a bull shark off Rose Island, attacked and bit her. The one-day stop in Nassau to enjoy the country’s marine environment turned deadly in a matter of hours. The private tour operators pulled her from the waters and gave medical assistance, but she died not long after. The 58-year-old was an employee of Gannon University.

Twenty-one-year-old Omar Davis Jr is the country’s latest murder victim who was found dead in the trunk of a Honda Fit vehicle, stuffed in a garbage bag.

Police said he was discovered at the rear of the Centerville Food store and sustained wounds to the head, face and upper body. It is believed he was likely dead for 24 hours since his body was in the early stages of decomposition.

Who was Omar Davis Jr?

Omar graduated this year from Central State University in Wilberforce, Ohio, after receiving a scholarship from the Ministry of Education Public School Scholars Programme, where he graduated with a double major in Accounts and Finance.

Omar celebrated a grade point average of 4.0 after graduation when he returned to the Bahamas.

A video of his personal story of triumph went viral in 2018 when he thanked MOE officials for the scholarship. He highlighted the tragedy of losing his father to murder and his push for improvement despite his upbringing.

His father was murdered and shot nine times at their home as he watched on, in 2013. Months later his cousin was also killed, just streets away from where he lived in the Kemp Road area. Despite the challenges, he graduated valedictorian of CI Gibson Senior High School in 2017.

What are people saying?

Many people took to social media to express shock at his death.

Devita Bethel said he was well loved. “The funniest, smartest, intelligent, smooth dressing and handsome kid on the block. I’m lost for words,” she said.

Tre Kaleista said, “He sacrificed. He persevered. He was educated. He followed the right path. Yet he is now a statistic.”

Another social media user Destiny Francis said, “You left without a warning. Growing up was always a ball, doing things we shouldn’t. I’m going to miss you so much.”

What was next for Omar Davis Jr?

Upon his return to the Bahamas after graduation in May, Omar interned at an accounting firm. He was expected to travel to Atlanta on Saturday to begin intern at Deloitte.

Now police are investigating who killed him and why. Police have not revealed whether or not he sustained gunshot or stab wounds, but they revealed they are following significant leads.