A community is in shock and mourning after the body of a 16-year-old boy was found decapitated from a suspected shark attack in Falmouth, Trelawny, a town in Jamaica. On Monday, August 26, 2024, Jahmari Reid went out spearfishing in the ocean by himself.
He never returned from the water and, unfortunately, the next day, his remains were discovered and retrieved by a group of divers. According to the Jamaica Star, his head and left hand had been bitten off in the attack.
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"Right now [I] don't know what to say. Jahmari has been going to sea from him small," the teen's mom, Lavern Robinson, told the outlet. Jahmari was a grade 10 student at William Knibb Memorial High School and was preparing to head into grade 11, she added.
Christopher Reynolds, a fisherman in the town, told the Jamaica Observer that the teen's remains had been retrieved by a group of divers who went out searching for him. He added that he'd been told a tiger shark had been spotted in the water. "All of the fisherman went out there and, while they were diving to take him up, they saw the big shark. They shot at him but they didn’t get him," he said.
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Michael Reid, the boy's father, was in complete shock. "I can’t believe that he went to sea by himself," he said, "and that was the outcome. Sad to know. I feel so bad." He added that he often tried to discourage his son's spearfishing hobby.
President of Falmouth Fisherfolks Benevolent Society Fritz Christie said this is the first time in recent history that someone had been killed in Trelawny waters. He theorized that the shark followed a cruise ship in and then just never left the area.
"What we have to do is make certain when the ships come to be careful of the diving," he said. "The shark eat off the man head, eat off one of his hand. It’s crazy, man."
