Adriel Moxey was strangled and sexually assaulted, says commissioner | News

The 12-year-old girl found dead in bushes along a road near her Faith Avenue home last week was strangled and sexually assaulted, Police Chief Clayton Fernander said yesterday.

Adriel Moxey, a student at Anatol Rodgers High School, was last seen alive last Monday around 6 p.m., police previously said.

Her mother reported her missing the next morning and her body was found a day later.

Last week, Fernander told reporters at the crime scene that Adriel was wearing only a shirt and had a piece of cloth tied tightly around her neck when her body was found.

He revealed more details about her murder during a press conference at police headquarters yesterday.

“We know the cause of death of the young child is strangulation,” Fernander said.

“We can safely say that she was sexually abused at the time. “Our investigators and CSI personnel have collected and are preparing (some) physical evidence, including some taken from the alleged suspect and that is being packed up as we speak.”

A 32-year-old person of interest is assisting the police in the investigation.

Fernander said the suspect is a “known patient” at the Sandilands Rehabilitation Center (SRC) but could not specify his mental illness.

During his arrest, the suspect attacked officers and injured one of them, Fernander said.

The suspect was being held at the Princess Margaret Hospital (PMH) yesterday but plans were in place to transfer him to the SRC, the commissioner added.

“Our information is that he is a known patient from Sandilands,” the commissioner said.

“I just spoke to one of the doctors before I came in. He is released from PMH and (will) be taken to Sandilands for further evaluation. He is currently under heavy guard.

“Officers are on alert 24 hours a day. We know we can’t talk to him right now; The doctor says we can’t talk to him because of his condition.”

Fernander said he has instructed officers to expedite the physical evidence collected during the investigation to confirm a link between the suspect and Adriel’s murder.

Yesterday he was asked why police are confident they have found the person responsible for the crime. He dismissed concerns that some suspects claim they were beaten by police to extract confessions.

“First of all, that’s not happening,” Fernander said.

“The police don’t hit anyone. You don’t see that happening. If that is the case, we will deal with it. But there is information that I cannot release to the public at this time, but we are following some important leads.

“We know that he even had some injuries when he was arrested, some notable injuries, and based on the information we are confident. We feel like we are on the right track.”

He said police are pursuing other lines of investigation, but they believe the suspect in custody is the person responsible for Adriel’s murder.

“…We are taking swift action to exonerate him or bring him to court,” he said.

Given the suspect’s history of mental illness, Fernander was asked whether there should be more supervision of people released into the community with these conditions who could pose a danger to others.

“We continue to do our best to do that,” he said.

“No matter how simple you do it on Bay Street, sometimes you see ten or maybe more. The police will arrest them and bring them to justice, and before you know it, they’ll be back out there wreaking havoc again.

“So that’s something we need to address and make sure that (the Department of) Social Services stays on board and that family members try to find the best place to help them. Some of them just don’t have a place to go, so (their) family just neglects them.”

During an interview with The Nassau Guard last week, Adriel’s mother, Sasha Moxey, expressed her dismay that there was an outpouring of support after her daughter’s death, but wondered where this help was when she was alive.

She said: ‘Everyone talks, everyone has a village, but where was Adriel’s village?’

Yesterday, Fernander said these words stuck with him as he called on people to be more involved in their communities.

“You see there are neighbors living right next door and they don’t even say good morning, or they don’t even say good evening,” he said.

“We really need to get back to basics in this country. We brag about a Christian nation and I completely agree: it is a Christian nation; just a few are still wreaking havoc in this country.”

He proposed that the Christian Council hold a national prayer event at least once a month in various communities across the country.

Adriel’s family has launched a GoFundMe to raise money for her funeral costs and other expenses.

Yesterday, Fernander said police are working with Restview Funeral Home to assist with the child’s funeral.