Teen’s death remains a mystery

According to reports, the teenager was killed while she was studying at her Mandela Drive, Orange Field Road home at about 1.30 pm on Saturday.

But it is still uncertain where the bullet which killed her came from. Newsday was told that the teen was studying with a friend when a loud gunshot was heard.

When relatives investigated, they found Sumiyya in a pool of blood on her bed. She was rushed to the Chaguanas Health Facility, but she succumbed to her wounds.

Carol told Newsday yesterday that she was liming with friends when the incident occurred.

“I was on a roulette table when I got the phone call,” she said. “As soon as I heard what happened I ran up the road, and I found out that they had already taken her to the hospital.

When I got there, I asked for my daughter, and they said that she was inside. Moments later she came out bawling, and saying that Sumiyya is dead.

All I know for sure is that she is dead, and that I have to be strong for my family.” Carol said her granddaughter had a dream of opening an orphanage and becoming a doctor.

She described her granddaughter, a student of ASJA Girls College, as a bright and hard-working girl.

“She kept telling me that she was not like the other girls who she knew,” said Carol yesterday “She promised that she would take care of me when I got older, but I guess that she would not be able to make good on that promise. Since she died, it is like I am in a daze. I try to keep strong for my family, but I keep asking for her as though she is still alive.” Homicide detectives are working on the theory that the teen may have been shot by a gun belonging to a family member. On the day of the incident, detectives could have been seen searching the bed which she was sitting on, looking for bullet holes.