Agony at Danielle Rowe’s autopsy

Norval Rowe held a blank stare as he sat inside the House of Tranquility Funeral Home yesterday, waiting for an autopsy conducted on the body of his eight-year-old daughter, Danielle Rowe.

A single tear, which escape from behind his dark glasses told the story of pain and anguish. At one point he opened his mouth as if to say something, but there were no words.

Little Danielle died at the Bustamante Hospital for Children on Saturday, June 10, two days after she was abducted outside her school gates in Portmore, St Catherine. She was found along Roosevelt Avenue in St Andrew with her throat slashed .

An investigator told THE STAR that Danielle died as a result of an incise wound to the neck. An incise wound is clean cut through the tissues, caused by sharp edged weapons.

The child's death evoked cries of anger throughout the society, with many calling for her killer to be caught and hanged. Last Wednesday, the police also released an electronically generated photo of a woman they say could assist investigators with information relating to the death of the schoolgirl. Investigators are yet to make a breakthrough in the case.

Like Rowe, Danielle's mother, Sudiene Mason, was a picture of grief. In fact, she required the physical support of a loved one as she walked hesitantly into the autopsy suite to view her child's body. She was overcome with emotion as she emerged from the room screaming and in tears.

Rowe, too, was let severely shaken. He took a seat on a bench outside the autopsy suit, his head hung in distress. The father held his stomach as if he was feeling immense pain before he assisted by two of his colleagues into a waiting vehicle.

Six autopsies were conducted at House of Tranquility Funeral Home yesterday, and Danielle's had an impact on almost everyone who were at the facility.

"This case is really terrible, especially for me as a parent," one onlooker said. "I'm tired of seeing these cruel attacks."