Editor,
In a recent e-mail to Mrs. Cockayne, the grieving mother of Jamie Cockayne, who was brutally slain on the island of St. John in June, Attorney General Frazer scolded her saying that she was not showing the proper respect to Charlotte Poole-Davis, the Assistant Attorney General who has been designated as the point of contact for the Cockayne family.
Given the fact that the family continues to be kept in the dark about major issues related to the investigation — not issues that would compromise the case, but those that might bring a bit of comfort to a family that has lost a loved one in such as tragic way — Mrs. Cockayne’s repeated correspondence with Ms. Poole-Davis is not only appropriate but necessary to ensure that pressure is continually felt by those who are going to be responsible for the prosecution of their son’s killers. Please print the following e-mail which I sent to Mr. Frazer and Ms. Poole-Davis.
Mr. Frazer:
Respect needs to be earned…it cannot be demanded. Ms. Charlotte Poole-Davis, and others of her ilk in your administration, have stonewalled and ignored the Cockaynes since the death of their son on June 19. I have been intimately involved in this case from the beginning, spending nearly two weeks on the island with the Cockaynes, and in communication with them numerous times a day for the last two months.
I’ve seen them sit, incredulous, as phone call after phone call, e-mail after e-mail has been ignored by your administration and police force. I’ve seen them stare glassy-eyed at the television while McCall talks about being “in regular communication with the Cockaynes” — a flat out lie. I’ve seen them cry countless tears for not being respected enough as parents of a young murder victim to be given the most basic information about their son’s case.
Most recently, they called the jail where their son’s alleged killers were being held to see if they had been released on the ridiculously low bail that was set for them — only to be hung up on not once, but twice. (Subsequent to those phone calls they were notified that Selmo Boston had in fact been released and is walking the streets of Cruz Bay, a man accused of first degree murder. I would suggest that all the people of St. John be on alert for this individual.)
It is a travesty that individuals can be elevated to such positions of authority — especially where public safety is their charge — and have such a complete lack of understanding about the fundamental responsibilities in their jobs. These are public servants, and they need to respect those whose lives have been torn apart because of their incompetence. If McCall, Ms. Poole-Davis, Ms. Gumbs Carty, Officers Hodges, Stout and Lima, Judge Leon Kendall (I can go on and on…) performed their jobs properly, there is no question in my mind and many, many others, that Jamie would still be alive. Criminals have been allowed to wreak havoc on that island, committing crime after crime, without any fear of consequence.
The people of St. John will look back on this case and remember it as the one that finally started the long-overdue campaign to clean up the corruption and incompetence that is ruining their beautiful island. If you haven’t figured it out by now, you are dealing with a formidable group of people who will not rest until the people of St. John and all those who visit there are given the respect they deserve — a government and law enforcement agency that truly protects and serves.
Barbara Alba
Yardley, PA