–then thrown unceremoniously from speeding hearse

By Shauna Jemmott
PANDEMONIUM broke out yesterday when the remains of 14-year-old Malaika Hamilton, reported missing since Monday, was fished out of the Hope Canal.

Things got decidedly worse when the cadaver was thrown out of the hearse as it sped away, heading for the morgue.
That aside, speculations vary as to how Hamilton, of Two Friends Village, East Coast Demerara, met her demise — as some believe she may have been murdered, while others feel she may have drowned, or taken her own life.
But according to ‘C’ Division Commander, Assistant Commissioner Marlon Chapman, since the body bore no marks of violence, the police are left with no alternative but to await the post-mortem to determine cause of death.
A cousin of hers, Angelena Clomwell, told the press yesterday that Malika “had not been herself” on Monday after an heated argument with her dad, Marlon Hamilton, called ‘Brando’, on the telephone.
Clomwell said that after speaking to her father, Malika picked up a knife, saying she was “fed up with Brando”.
Fearing she might attempt to commit suicide, Clomwell said she somehow managed to wrest the weapon from Malika and calm her down.
When she later left home to go for a swim with some friends, it would be the last time Clomwell would see the Hope Secondary School student alive.
She was discovered missing after she failed to return home that evening, and was found floating in the Hope Canal by one Shellon Sampson, a resident of Doch Four, hours into a search that was mounted to find her.

Sampson told the media yesterday that she did not know Malika was missing until a male cousin of hers called out to her, asking if “Cousin Dorrel” had found her granddaughter.

Recalling that the boy had told her he’d seen something strange in the canal, Sampson said that upon checking, she discovered it was the body of the missing teen, who was a hot contender in a recent beauty pageant.

Malika’s grandmother, Dorrell Cambridge, said her daughter, Atesha, the child’s mother, went to her security guard job as usual on Monday, leaving the teen and her two younger siblings at home

with the rest of the extended family.

Cambridge, a fruit vendor, said she left home at about 09:00 hours on Monday to pick plums, but when she returned in the afternoon, she learnt that Malika was not at home. She was told by another grand-daughter that the teen had gone to have her hair braided at another cousin’s home in neighbouring Ann’s Grove.

Cambridge said that knowing that Malika is never late getting home, she became worried when, at 21:00 hours, there was no sign of her.
She said the matter was immediately reported to the police, and a search was mounted to find her.

She described Malika as being very active in the church, as she was a member of the Ebenezer Congregational Church’s Youth Ministry.

The church’s youth leader, Ms. Shunnet Waterman, concurred, saying they are all saddened by Malika’s passing.
“Malika was a beautiful, gifted and very intelligent young lady, who grew up under difficult circumstances,” Waterman said, adding: “She was ambitious; she was also a whizz with a computer, loved to express herself, and had the dream of one day becoming a news reporter….
“We used to say that it was the perfect job for her, because she used to talk a lot. But she was a wonderful young lady; a diamond in the making.”

She leaves to mourn her four siblings, her mother and father, and other close relatives.