HEARTBREAK AND OUTRAGE: NATION TO BID FAREWELL TO 15-YEAR-OLD JANELIKA ROMNEY THIS AFTERNOON
BASSETERRE, ST. KITTS, August 27, 2025 – The Federation will come to a somber standstill this afternoon as hundreds are expected to pour into the Antioch Baptist Church, Lime Kiln Commercial Development to pay their final respects to 15-year-old Janelika Romney, whose tragic death has shaken the conscience of the nation.
The bright and promising Verchilds High School student went missing on June 16, 2025, sparking island-wide fear, frantic searches, and desperate prayers for her safe return. But hope turned to horror when her lifeless body was discovered in the Whitegate area on June 27, 2025—an ending too cruel for a child whose life had only just begun.
Today’s memorial service, scheduled for 2 p.m., will not only honor Janelika’s memory but also stand as a collective cry for justice and an end to the violence robbing families of their children.
FAMILY LEFT SHATTERED
Janelika leaves behind a heartbroken family circle, including her mother Khalilia Isles-Stevens, father Janel Romney, stepfather Elvis Stevens, grandmothers Ionie Chumney and Sterling Benjamin, grandfather Stedroy Isles, and her beloved great-grandmother Violet Isles. Their grief has become the grief of an entire nation.
THE CASE THAT ROCKED ST. KITTS
The horror surrounding Janelika’s death deepened when 64-year-old Selwyn “Judge” Pringle of Dieppe Bay was arrested and charged with kidnapping and false imprisonment on June 26, 2025. Just weeks later, on July 16, 2025, after the shocking results of a post-mortem examination, Pringle was slapped with an additional charge of murder.
The autopsy, carried out by internationally-recognized forensic pathologist Dr. Shanedella Norford-Harry, with the support of resident pathologists Dr. Adrian Nunez-Quintana and Dr. Nordica Phillip, revealed the chilling cause of death: “multiple stab wounds to the body.”
A COMMUNITY DEMANDS ANSWERS
Janelika’s tragic fate has reignited outrage and raised serious questions about the safety of young women and children in St. Kitts and Nevis. Across the nation, calls for tougher protections, harsher penalties, and urgent action from authorities grow louder with every passing day.
As mourners gather this afternoon, the service will not only serve as a farewell but as a rallying point—one that demands no other child’s life be cut short in such brutal fashion.
Today, the Federation mourns. Today, we remember Janelika. And today, we demand justice.
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