A bereaved Antiguan mother has issued a powerful open letter to the nation, calling on authorities to address what she describes as a crisis of youth violence and unsolved deaths that is tearing families apart.
According to Antigua.news, the letter was written by Asabi Charles, whose daughter Achazia James was killed 586 days ago — a loss she says has never healed, and one that has been painfully reopened by the recent deaths of more young people in Antigua and Barbuda.
"Five hundred and eighty-six days of living with a pain that words cannot fully express," Charles wrote. "A pain I carry quietly, even as I put on a brave face each day."
Charles extended her condolences to the families of those most recently lost, expressing particular solidarity with grieving mothers. "I stand with you in grief because I understand your pain," she wrote.
In her letter, Charles named several young people whose lives she says must be remembered and honoured: Yenifer Bridge, Achazia James, Brianna Clark, Omari Lewis, Chantel Crump, Vonde Bowers, and others. "These were not statistics," she wrote. "These were sons and daughters, students, friends. Young people with dreams, with purpose, and with families who loved them deeply."
Charles directed an urgent appeal to the Royal Police Force of Antigua and Barbuda, the Attorney General, and other officials responsible for upholding justice. She called for answers, accountability, and meaningful action, warning that unsolved cases breed fear and a sense of abandonment within communities.
"It must never be accepted that our children's lives can be taken without consequence," she wrote.
Charles described the pattern of youth deaths as no longer an isolated issue, but a national crisis. She urged the country not to grow numb to the ongoing loss, and called for continued guidance, protection, and support for young people.
Despite her grief, she said her faith remains intact. "I believe that justice will come," she wrote. "This is not only my voice as a mother. This is a call on behalf of many."
Asabi Charles signed the letter as "a mother still grieving, still standing."
