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Revision as of 06:23, 19 January 2025 by Swinub (talk | contribs) (Started)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff) Trinidadian child murder victim (1987–1998)| Akiel Chambers | |
|---|---|
| Born | Akiel Chambers (1987-01-04)4 January 1987 Trinidad and Tobago |
| Died | 23 May 1998(1998-05-23) (aged 11) Haleland Park, Maraval, Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago |
| Cause of death | Strangulation |
| Body discovered | 24 May 1998 |
Akiel Chambers (4 January 1987 – 23 May 1998) was an 11-year-old boy who was sexually assaulted and murdered at a birthday party in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, in 1998.
As of 2025, nobody has been charged, and DNA evidence has since been lost.
Background
On 23 May 1998, a birthday party was being held for 11-year-old Carrie James at her family's home in the upscale suburb of Haleland Park in Maraval, Port of Spain. Present were six parents and about 25 to 30 children, including Akiel Chambers, who was a classmate of James.
As parents were supervising children swimming in the pool, James asked Chambers if he was going to join, to which Chambers replied no, as his aunt told him not to because he couldn't swim. Later, several of the children, including James and Chambers, went inside to play the PlayStation. After eating barbeque, Chambers returned to the room to play video games. James went to the room to find several children "making mess" and ordered them all out. James claimed that at this point, Chambers came out near the pool, and that was the last time she saw him alive.
By 5:00 p.m., the cake was cut, and children continued playing in the pool. An hour later, the party was wrapping up, and parents began to leave with their children. Chambers' aunt, Valerie Pascall, arrived to pick him up but could not locate him. According to one of the children, Chambers went next door, but he was not there. Pascall and other parents looked around the property and shouted for Chambers, to no avail.
Investigation
Around midnight, police began an investigation and arrived at the James residence. Carrie provided a list of everyone present at the party, and, during the search, police dragged a pool stick along the bottom of the pool, noticing nothing awry.
The following day, Chambers was found by police submerged at the bottom of the pool in a crouched position, wearing only a man's swim trunks. Peculiarly, earlier in the morning, children had swum in the pool and not noticed anyone submerged in it.
During the first autopsy, coroner Sherman Mc Nicolls noted that Chambers' anus was patulous, lax, and "subjected over a long period to repeated sexual intercourse." He did not take any anal swabs for evidence, as he did not believe the abuse was related to his death. During a second autopsy on 28 May, oral and anal swabs were taken. Initially, his death was believed to be an accidental drowning.
In October 2003, 15-year-old Darnell Riley claimed that Chambers was next to him in the shallow end of the pool on the day of his disappearance. Riley, along with two other witnesses, was giving a testimony at the Port of Spain Eighth Magistrates' Court before Mc Nicolls. Riley stated that at the party, Chambers "appeared to be sad everybody was having fun and he wasn't." He also claimed that the pool was "very clear" and that he did not at any point see Chambers sunken in the water.
Ramiese Mahadeo, who was also present at the party, stated during his testimony: "I asked if he was coming in. I told him to hurry up and change his clothes and come in. He said he couldn't come in." Mahadeo also told Mc Nicolls that the water was clear enough that anyone submerged would have been impossible to miss and that several parents indeed looked into the pool during the initial search.
Later developments
On 18 February 2004, Sherman Mc Nicolls ruled that Chambers did not die by accidental drowning, but strangulation.
According to Robert Sabga, former chairman of a 1997 task force investigating abuse at children's homes, an individual who holds a "very high office" in Trinidad was involved in a pedophile ring in the 1990s and was linked to the Chambers case.
As of 2025, the case remains unsolved, and many of the relatives and people present at the party have since left Trinidad. In 2022, David West, director of the Police Complaints Authority, stated: "There is not much that can be done now to find the perpetrators of this matter; unless someone comes forward and confesses, we are not going to get the evidence."
References
- ^ "12 years on…Case of Akiel Chambers to be reopened in T&T". Stabroek News. 19 October 2012. Retrieved 19 January 2025.
- ^ Ramdass, Anna (17 May 2022). "Sabga links Pedophile ring to Akiel Chambers case". Trinidad Express. Retrieved 19 January 2025.
- ^ Joseph, Francis (15 October 2003). "AKIEL CHAMBERS INQUEST: 12 hours after he went missing... 'Akiel's body floats up in pool...just so'". Trinidad and Tobago Newsday. Archived from the original on 15 December 2003. Retrieved 19 January 2025.
- Ghouralal, Darlisa (18 May 2022). "Griffith slams claim he didn't act on evidence in Akiel Chambers case". tt.loopnews.com. Retrieved 19 January 2025.
- ^ Renne, Denyse (19 May 2018). "Akiel's case still unsolved". Trinidad Express. Retrieved 19 January 2025.
- "Witness tells Coroner: 'Nobody drowns quietly'". Trinidad and Tobago Newsday. 10 October 2003. Retrieved 19 January 2025.
- ^ Hassanali, Shaliza (21 May 2022). "Akiel's family tormented as new info on murder emerges". Trinidad and Tobago Guardian. Retrieved 19 January 2025.
- ^ Joseph, Francis (29 October 2003). "THE AKIEL CHAMBERS INQUEST: Former classmate admits... 'I saw Akiel in the pool'". Trinidad and Tobago Newsday. Archived from the original on 2 November 2003. Retrieved 19 January 2025.
- Ghouralal, Darlisa (24 May 2018). "PCA to audit police probe into Akiel Chambers case". tt.loopnews.com. Retrieved 19 January 2025.
- "Accounting for the Akiel Chambers tragedy". Trinidad Express. 22 May 2018. Retrieved 19 January 2025.
- Achong, Derek (April 2013). "Coudray hopeful at Akiel Chambers march". Trinidad and Tobago Guardian. Retrieved 19 January 2025.
- De Souza, Janelle (19 May 2022). "Robinson-Regis: Robert Sabga must share info on Akiel Chambers's death with police". Trinidad and Tobago Newsday. Retrieved 19 January 2025.