Ten-year-old slain near Troy as Holness says World Cup trip was self-funded

The body of 10-year-old Shani Coke, known as Keidra, was found partly unclothed with her throat cut in bushes in the Trelawny District area near Troy on Tuesday evening. Police say a crowd then attacked and killed Delroy Coke, whom residents blamed for the child's death. His father, Maxwell Coke, was also assaulted and remains in hospital.

Maternal grandmother Merle Williams, who raised Shani from birth, said she sent the girl to a nearby shop about 3:30 p.m. Tuesday. When she had not returned by 4:00 p.m., relatives and neighbours began searching. The body was found hours later in scrub off a road in the Troy community.

Investigators say residents pointed to Delroy Coke because of his criminal past. Police say he was a convicted sex offender previously arrested for sexual offences in Portland and Trelawny, served five years at the St. Catherine Adult Correctional Centre after a 2019 conviction, and was released in August 2025.

Williams described the child as well-mannered, well-liked, and academically strong at Port Royal Primary School. "I miss her very much and I feel terrible knowing that I miss her at that young tender age. She see no life yet. She's just growing up," she said.

Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness has answered online criticism of his attendance at last Sunday's FIFA World Cup final at the New York/New Jersey stadium, saying the public did not pay. "Let me put everybody at ease. I went there on my own dime. I did the government didn't pay for me to go. I paid for myself," he said, adding that he was also FIFA's guest and that Jamaica is pursuing a bid to co-host the 2031 women's World Cup, which would require infrastructure investment.

The Jamaica Medical Doctors Association is urging Health Minister Dr Christopher Tufton to apologise for remarks reportedly linking University Hospital of the West Indies interns' June 24 island-wide protest to a shortage of Accident and Emergency beds. In a Tuesday release, the JMDA said the protest concerned inhumane working conditions. Tufton said he would take the matter up privately with the association.

The Caribbean Examinations Council will hold briefing sessions across its 21 member territories on School-Based Assessment reforms. Operations director Dr Nicole Manning said more guidance will go to teachers, students and other stakeholders. Candidates in non-practical subjects will move from traditional SBAs to Paper 032 under exam conditions, with topics about a month ahead and reference notes allowed, as CXC seeks to protect qualification integrity amid generative AI. Manning said AI may aid preparation, but competence must be shown without AI in controlled exams.

Jamaican Jerry Shelton, whom US prosecutors want as an overseas witness in the triple-murder case against music producer Linval "Shabba Ranks" Thompson and co-accused Tejay "Fathead" Clark, faces a Florida jury trial from November 9 before Broward County Circuit Judge Bernard Bova in Fort Lauderdale. Shelton has pleaded not guilty and is held without bond. The Jamaican matter arises from a May 25, 2022 shooting at a birthday party on Maile Road in Rose Heights, St. James. Months later he was charged in Florida over an October 19, 2022 fatal shooting outside Blueberry Hill Condominiums in Lauderhill that killed Dwayne Mosman Francis and Jeff Murray; investigators alleged Shelton was shot in the neck. The St. James Circuit Court earlier approved remote video evidence from two overseas witnesses, including Shelton.

Brent crude climbed above US$100 a barrel for the first time in two months after Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen said they attacked two Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea, heightening supply fears. US President Donald Trump has warned of major military punishment if the attacks continue.

At the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Jamaica's women's 3x3 basketball side lost 18–17 to Uganda and 21–13 to Australia in Pool C. The Reggae Boyz were drawn in Group B of the CONCACAF Nations League with Honduras, Guatemala, Suriname, Martinique and El Salvador, with matches across FIFA windows from September to November 2026 and finals in March 2027.