yearinreview

The year 2024 was one of dramatic developments in the Bahamas, as the country faced scandals and unpredictable events that captured national and international attention.

Here are eight of the most impactful stories from the year:

1. The US Embassy issued a travel advisory as the murder rate climbed

January 24

The U.S. Embassy in the Bahamas issued a security alert, advising U.S. citizens to be aware that 18 murders had occurred in the capital since the beginning of 2024. The alert cited gang violence as the primary motive, noting murders have occurred at all hours, “including in broad daylight.”

Though no tourists were harmed or killed, it highlighted the need for improved national security as crime was seemingly spiraling out of control in Nassau.

2. Hubert Minnis challenged Michael Pintard for the FNM leadership but loses

June 1

Michael Pintard retained leadership of the Free National Movement despite the challenge by Former Prime Minister Hubert Minnis.

At the one-day convention, Pintard secured 486 votes to 163 for Minnis.

3. CDU Chief Michael Johnson was placed on ‘garden leave’ after a voice note allegation–bargaining with criminals in a 1.5m armour truck robbery

July 2024

Chief Superintendent Michael Johnson, the head of the Royal Bahamas Police Force’s (RBPF) Criminal Investigations Department, went on ‘garden leave’ and remains under investigation following serious bribery allegations. Voice notes circulated online, purportedly capturing him negotiating with an alleged gang leader, Michael Fox Jr., to dismiss charges in exchange for monetary compensation.

Fox and other deceased individuals were previously implicated in a significant armored truck heist.

4. Official Mario Bannister was charged in a murder case of a man found with hands and feet bound

August 2024

The managing director of Clifton Heritage Mario Bannister with two other men were charged with the murder of Philip Adderley, whose body was found with stab wounds and bound by hands and feet in waters near Stuart’s Cove.

After text and photos circulated implicating Bannister in the murder, Prime Minister Philip Davis dismissed him from the position.

5. Abaco MP Kirk Cornish was cleared of rape, assault and death threat against former girlfriend

October 31

North Abaco MP Kirk Cornish walked free after a jury found him ‘not guilty’ of two counts of rape charges of assault and death threats.

His former girlfriend alleged the incidents occurred between January 20, 2023 and April 4, 2023 when Cornish became controlling and abusive because she was speaking to male friends. She added that Cornish attacked her while at an Airbnb and once charged at her with a knife.

A short time later, she said she went into the bedroom to rest and Cornish raped her and spat in her face after he was done.

6. Police Commissioner Clayton Fernander resigned amid U.S. drug trafficking indictments against officers

December 4

Commissioner of Police Clayton Fernander resigned following a U.S. investigation that indicted several Bahamian officers for police involvement in a large-scale drug trafficking operation into the US.

Prime Minister Philip Davis announced Fernander’s resignation in the House of Assembly following cries from the Opposition and the public.

The indicted officers were accused of facilitating cocaine smuggling into the U.S. by exploiting their official positions, adding to growing allegations of corruption within the Royal Bahamas Police Force.

7. MP Shanendon Cartwright threw mace from House of Assembly spurring a forceful removal of the Opposition

December 4

Member of Parliament for St Barnabas Shanendon Cartwright threw the mace out of the window of the House of Assembly when House Speaker Patricia Deveaux prevented the Opposition from speaking on the matter involving officers indicted for cocaine smuggling in the US.

Deveaux ordered the removal of Bannister from the House when members of the Opposition linked arms to prevent his removal. Officers forcefully ejected the FNM parliamentarians and Deveaux suspended them from two House sittings.

8. Chinese Construction firm filed for bankruptcy over 1.6 bn Baha Mar judgment

December 23

China Construction America (CCA), the contractor behind the Baha Mar resort project, filed for U.S. bankruptcy protection. The filing followed a $1.6 billion judgment against CCA due to construction delays and financial losses associated with the project. The bankruptcy raised concerns about the future of foreign investments and large-scale developments in the Bahamas.

These events have significantly influenced the socio-political and economic landscape of the Bahamas in 2024, prompting discussions on governance, public safety, environmental conservation, infrastructure, and international relations.

The year 2024 was marked by dramatic events. Many people were exposed to tragedies and violence, some incidents sparking fear and shock.

Here are the top eight news stories that left us sad:

1. Politician and Deputy Chair of Free National Movement fatally shot (March 27)

Former Parliamentarian Don Saunders who served as Deputy Chair of the Free National Movement, was tragically killed during an alleged robbery in Gambier Village. He was reportedly seated outside an establishment when two masked gunmen approached him and another individual, demanding cash. Saunders fled and was shot in the neck, dying on the scene.

The incident shocked the nation, highlighting concerns about public safety and leading to calls for enhanced security measures.

2. Social media influencer dies by suicide but family disputes the autopsy

Twenty-seven-year-old Destiny Hamilton, a social media influencer with over 20,000 followers, was found in a bathroom around 8.30 am with a laceration to her wrist, in Guana Cay, Abaco. Police classified the death as a suicide but her family disputed the pathology report, insisting the “story isn’t adding up”.

Her cousin, Bennae Beneby-Pinder insisted that she was full of life and loved living.

Hamilton’s mother, Gladys Hamilton initially agreed with the pathology report but later retracted her statements, requesting an investigation into the death of her daughter be reopened. “I feel in my heart my daughter didn’t kill herself,” she said.

3. Geovanni Rolle was killed on Father’s Day. A suspect was released and the case remains unsolved (July 16)

Geovani Rolle, 38, was killed after arriving at his workplace, near the airport during the early morning hours. A suspect was arrested in the departure lounge of the domestic terminal at the Lynden Pindling International Airport after the killing, but he was released.

Rolle’s family offered a $25,000 reward for anyone with information that leads to the arrest of a suspect responsible for his death but has since publicly expressed that authorities may have colluded with the suspect for his release.

4. Three brothers from Andros were killed in a car crash (September 3)

The nation grieved with the family of three brothers killed in Nassau when their vehicle crashed into a tree off Sir Milo Butler Highway. Philip McCarron,24; Philip D’Caprio,23 died on the scene and Deangelo Christie, 20, died hours later in hospital.

The brothers were reared in Andros but transitioned to Nassau for employment at Bahamas Telecommunications and Bahamas Power and Light.

Their mother Lovan Chrsitie pleaded for donations to help bury her only sons. “My heart is broken in ways I can’t even begin to describe…Any donation, no matter how big or small, will be a blessing as I navigate this painful journey.”

5. Two die after plane ditches in water (September 13)

A Piper Aztec with six people onboard ditched in waters about eight miles west of New Providence.  Emma Williams was en route to her mother’s funeral in Lowe Sound, Andros, and Allen Russell, believed to be in his 80s, and a beloved taxi driver in Andros, died onboard.

6. Boy, 8, commits suicide when mother said ‘no’ to watching YouTube  (October 11)

An older sibling found his brother, eight-year-old Mariano Chery, hanging from the security bars of a window in their home, in what police ruled a suicide. He was transported to the hospital but died.

The boy’s mother later told local dailies that he was denied access to watch YouTube when he became upset, wandered to his room, and was found unresponsive. “Mariano just wanted to watch YouTube, so I said Mariano, let’s watch one more movie. He said ‘Mummy, I don’t want to watch movie. Y’all never let me watch what I want to watch.”

The boy was a third-grade student at TG Glover. “I wish I could’ve catch him in time,” she told The Tribune.

Mariano was the youngest case of suspected suicide in the country.

7. Adriel Moxey was raped and strangled in bushes near her home, after disappearing when school was dismissed (November 20)

The 12-year-old student of Anatol Rodgers High School went missing and was found two days later in bushes through a track road off Faith Avenue South.

She was last seen leaving school, spurring the issuance of a MARCO alert. Her mother, Sasha Moxey, pleaded for her daughter’s safe return, but the child was discovered later that evening partially clothed with a string tied around her neck. Police confirmed she was sexually assaulted and strangled.

The killing spurred public anger.

Authorities said a suspect turned himself in to police and is expected to be charged with her murder, this week.

8. Seamstress found dead in her home after a dinner party with sisters. The suspect was found sitting on her bed (November 24)

72-year-old Vernencha Butler, returning from a birthday party for a sister, was found dead in her home after a break-in, around 3 a.m.

Two male relatives, on arrival at the home, discovered the suspect sitting on her bed, and Butler unresponsive. Police said she was assaulted by the intruder, who was arrested and taken into custody.

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.