HATTIEVILLE, Belize District, Thurs. Aug. 13, 2020– A boy, 4, who was orphaned by the murder-suicide of his parents two years ago, drowned yesterday morning at about 11:00 while playing in the backyard of relatives of his who had become his caretakers after his parents’ death.
It has been reported that the boy, Steven Anthony Ferguson, fell into a pond in the Windmill area of Hattieville that had become full of water due to the rains, and drowned.
His sister, Jayla, 6, who had been looking for him, found him floating in the pond, which is said to be about 15 feet by 12 feet in surface area, and between 8 and 10 feet in depth. She called Dayna Marroquin, 18, his babysitter, who then called the neighbours, who then called police.
Young Steven’s body was retrieved from the water and Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) was administered on him by both the police and BERT technicians, but to no avail.
He was then rushed to the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital, where he was declared dead on arrival.
Police said that Steven’s uncle, Samuel Ferguson, who is the legal guardian of the child, left home at 7:00 a.m. for work, leaving his nephew sleeping, in the care of Dayna Marroquin, Shortly after 11:00 a.m., however, Samuel received a call that his nephew had fallen into the pond.
It is another tragedy to beset the members of the Ferguson family after the murder-suicide of Steven’s parents just two years ago. Steven’s father, Constable Steven Anthony Ferguson, Sr., a policeman attached to the Punta Gorda police, died by his own hands at about 7:30 on the night of November 22, 2018, in his apartment in Punta Gorda, after he had taken the life of his common-law wife, Josephine Hamilton, 30, during an altercation in their home.
Police said that Constable Ferguson shot Josephine Hamilton three times in her head, and then turned the gun to his right temple and shot himself. They both died immediately. At the time of the murder and suicide, both of the children — Steven and Kayla — were in the house with them, and they witnessed the double deaths.
Percival Ferguson, the boy’s grandfather, told the media that Steven was bright, and was aware of the tragic incident that claimed the lives of both his parents. He says that Steven often mentioned that his father shot his mother and himself, and that they both died, but the grandfather does not know whether his grandson had memories of the incident, which he and his sister witnessed, or whether he overheard conversations in which the incident was discussed.
He does know, however, that the deaths had impacted the boy and his sister, 6, who is now the only surviving member of the family, at such a tender age.