Shelly-Ann Thompson, Staff Reporter

Nordia Campbell, mother of slain 11-year-old Ananda Dean, mourns with her 10-year-old son Richard Dean Jr during the funeral yesterday. The service of thanksgiving was held at the Swallowfield Chapel in St Andrew. - Norman Grindley/Acting Photography Editor

A wailing mother, a crying father and a temple shrouded in grief brought an expected solemn mood to the thanksgiving service for the life of 11-year-old Ananda Dean.

The mutilated body of the child was found in bushes almost two weeks after she went missing on September 17.

Colourful balloons, red roses, pink and white floral arrangements and teddy bears that adorned the Swallowfield Chapel in St Andrew could not bring cheer to family which agonised for weeks until the police conclusively identified the body.

Tears flowed as mourners gazed at the purple and white coffin, emblazoned with a picture of a smiling Ananda and the words 'Forever Loved' etched on the sides.

In paying tribute, Richard Dean Sr, Ananda's father, said had he wanted to surprise his daughter on her birthday tomorrow with a trip to Dolphin Cove, a family attraction in St Ann.

"I had great plans for all my children. I work night and day to see them happy," he said.

As the tributes were delivered, the grief became overbearing for the Ananda's mother, Nordia Campbell. She fell to the ground wailing, "Passion", the nickname of her Ananda before she was taken outside.

Samuda says hang 'em

Karl Samuda, member of parliament for North Central St Andrew, the constituency where the family resides, said Ananda's brutal death had changed his view with regard to capital punishment.

"Any vote coming to the House (of Representatives), I will decide that the law must take its course," said Samuda to thunderous applause.

Samuda alluded to an imminent vote in the Lower House in which parliamentarians will decide whether the death penalty will remain on the books.

Opposition Leader Portia Simpson Miller and the Spokes-person on Information and Youth, Lisa Hanna, were also in attendance.

Simpson Miller asked the perpetrators to turn themselves in to the police.

"In the name of God and in the name of this country we love so much, stop it!" she exclaimed.

Betty Ann Blaine, convenor of the advocacy group, Hear The Children's Cry, challenged churches to form closer relationships with inner-city families.

Scholarship established

Blaine announced that a scholarship had been established in Ananda's memory that would be awarded to an outstanding student of her alma mater.

Samuda told the congregation that $250,000 will be facilitated through government efforts towards the scholarship.

Pastor David Henry, during the sermon, asked the congregation to live righteously. He charged that Jamaicans were responsible for the spate of lawlessness which had rocked the country.

"We have sown some deadly seeds for many years - of dishonesty, deception, bitterness, immorality, the bling culture, politicking," said Henry.

On October 29, police confirmed that the body of a girl found in bushes in Belvedere, St Andrew, was that of Ananda.

The cause of her death, however, was inconclusive. The body's state of decomposition prevented forensic experts from determining if she had been sexually assaulted.

The body was interred at Dovecot Memorial Park in St Catherine.

The death has inspired proposals for a nationwide missing child emergency network, to be named the Ananda Alert, modelled after the United States system, the Amber Alert.

shelly-ann.thompson@gleanerjm.com