Parents and guardians are being urged to exercise greater vigilance and supervision of their children following the killing of eight-year-old Talia Thompson, who was reportedly raped and stabbed recently.

The call comes from Parent’s Alliance Jamaica, a non-profit association of ‘upstanding’ parents with civic experience and a desire to impact future Jamaicans’.

In a statement on Wednesday (September 27), alliance president George Goode said: “Today, another Jamaican family faces an insurmountable loss that is shared by the local community and wider Jamaican society. The message is clear: in the current social climate, we as parents must exercise stricter controls over where our children go and who they are around, as no one can be trusted blindly.”

He further noted that Thompson was a promising primary-school student who excelled in local pageants and school activities.

While noting that the recent acts of violence against the nation’s children are a result of a decay in deterrence strategies, the alliance is urging policymakers to provide greater victim support and deterrence measures prevent such heinous crimes.