Bereft, but coping: The surviving Herods rebuild their lives By Miranda La Rose Stabroek News October 24, 1999 The survivors of the Buxton arson/murder/suicide in which some seven members of the Herod family perished earlier this year are rebuilding their lives. Avril Herod, 37, a former guard with the security firm, Securicor, who survived the macabre event because she was at work at the time said that she and her family members are "coping." Herod lost two children Erwin, 14, and Jonelle, 11, in the July 9, tragedy in which her brother Raul Herod shot a number of his family members including his grandmother, his mother, an aunt and two of his children. His nine-year-old son Jermaine, was the only one to live through the ordeal during that night of terror. He was shot in the jaw and was taken to the Georgetown Public Hospital where the bullet was subsequently removed. The other survivor was Raul Herod's wife Denise. But since the tragic events of that night, she has not been in contact with the Herod family at Buxton. Herod's two other children Roger, 17, and Andrea, 15, were not at home at the time of the tragedy. Her dead daughter Jonelle had been awaiting the results of the Secondary Schools Entrance Examinations and had been awarded a place at the Golden Grove Secondary where Andrea is a student. Herod said that maybe God spoke to her through her late daughter, as that night she had not felt like going to work but Jonelle had urged her to go. Herod stated that she has received/is receiving support from relatives and community members in the Buxton/Friendship and other civic-minded citizens. She expressed thanks to them all. Among those who showed concern and have assisted was Food for the Poor. De Boyz Promotion has committed itself to giving $100,000 to Jermaine. Ten thousand dollars has already been handed over. It is expected that De Boyz Promotions will hand over another $10,000 by month end, $20,000 by November and $60,000 by December. At the moment, Herod who has custody of Jermaine is unemployed and is being accommodated at the home of a relative. Jermaine had spent several weeks in the Georgetown Public Hospital and the social workers there released him into her care, Herod said. Since then she and another relative, Mark Hatton, also of Buxton have been providing for him. The young lad has been transferred from the primary school which he attended in Buxton to one in the city. Asked whether she gets public assistance from government for Jermaine, Herod said "No". She said that the Guyana Relief Council, which has been of great assistance to her, had sent her, as the sole guardian of Jermaine, to the Ministry of Human Services and Social Security to seek assistance. She related that one day she went to see an official (name given) at the ministry who, when she introduced herself, said, "Another Herod again?" The official, she said, told her that some other relatives had been there make enquiries so she left. She has not returned since. Government allocated her a house lot at Plantation Belfield last week, where, with the assistance of a Guyanese residing abroad, she intends to build a home. Asked whether the security company had given her any assistance since the tragedy occurred, she said replied in the negative. Herod said that because of her experience, she would prefer to run her own little business and was looking for the opportunity to do so. Herod said she left Securicor "the same time the tragedy occurred" because the management denied that she had reported the erratic behaviour of her deceased brother who committed the atrocities. Both she and her brother were employed by the same company. Though she has "not been taking on", she said, the children would occasionally talk about it. She recalled that one day while talking about collecting some photographs which the family had loaned this newspaper, Jermaine said that he would like his father's photograph to put under his pillow. While Andrea remained quiet, Roger said, "Forget it. Let's talk about something else." Herod said she cries in her quiet moments, and when people meet her and speak of the tragic manner in which she lost her children, mother, grandmother and other relatives. Special occasions, such as birthdays, she said, are impossible to go through without tears. But Herod, who was baptized in the Assemblies of God Church recently, said that she was not giving up. A © page from: Guyana: Land of Six Peoples