Family shocked after St Elizabeth teen found dead

"I know this probably sounds cliche and it sounds like every story is the same thing, but Kewain was so loved by everybody."

These were the tearful words of Petashay Harvey who last Friday was given the devastating news that the body of her younger brother, Kewain Harvey, was discovered in Mount Osbourne in St Elizabeth. According to Petashay, the 19-year-old Harvey, who recently graduated from the Sydney Pagon STEM Academy, was reported missing on February 10 after not returning home the day before. Harvey's father was told that his son's body was found with his neck and feet bound around 5:00 that morning.

Petashay told THE STAR that the news of Kewain's passing is so surprising, it is sending shockwaves through her entire family.

"Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine this," she said. With a heavy sigh she continued, "It's so shocking because it's like, he was good today and the next day is like ... ."

She said days before his death, Kewain started displaying strange behaviour. Though the youngster was always a pleasant person, she said persons described his demeanour as saccharin sweet and overly philosophical.

"He was saying that we live in world that is so cruel and evil and he went over his school because it's a long time since he hasn't seen his teachers and he just wanted to say hi. But because they are not used to persons saying 'peace, love and prosperity', and he was saying that, that's what caused them to become alarmed," she explained.

Kewain was set to enrol at the HEART/NSTA Trust in March to begin training to become an automotive engineer. Petashay said that although she cannot begin to understand what caused his death, she has theorised that his strange behaviour was as a result of the pressure he was placing on himself.

"Honestly, I have no idea but, I think maybe one of the reasons was he didn't want to not make something of himself. He was always pressuring himself. He wanted to follow in my footsteps, always wanted to make himself something," she said.

"He would say, 'Shay, I want to get rich, I want to become successful so I can buy you any car you want'. So we're always talking about the future but I always tell him don't rush your life, because you're young. Things are gonna happen when things are going to. So I'm not sure if he felt that he wasn't progressing in the way that he wanted to, but I think that's one of the reasons why he started to behave that way."

Petashay said their family is struggling to cope with the grief.

"It's just like a dream all of us are in because we never imagined something like this to ever happen. They [her parents and two other siblings] are not holding up well. I couldn't make it to my exams yesterday. I'm just trying my best to hold on because my parents are worrying because of all of us," she said.