00:00The sad news, she didn't make it, right? So she now found her deceased, so found her unalive, unalive in
00:12Karapal.
00:14Sad news, sad news. She has been just located. Her body is ready.
00:21Another sad day in TNT, as yet another child has been killed.
00:26The body of 12-year-old Mercedes Lane was discovered early this morning off a gravel roadway near an oil
00:34pipeline just off Karapal Road in Erie.
00:37A heritage employee made the gruesome discovery.
00:41She was said to be in a semi-nude state and her body bore marks of violence.
00:47Shocking and vexatious is how MP4 Labrie, Clyde Elder, described the dastardly act.
00:54This has been a shocking, heart-wrenching, gruesome, vexatious act committed.
01:10And there's a close-knit community, community of Los Cerro, Karapal, Erie, close-knit.
01:17Everybody, no one are along here.
01:20And I think what has happened has left us all as a community in a state of disbelief.
01:26Mercedes was last seen on Saturday morning when a relative is reported to have placed her in a car in
01:33Rancho Kemado, where she had spent the night with relatives.
01:37She never made it home.
01:39Sources indicate that the vehicle in question was found this morning at a residence in Beach Road, Palo Seco.
01:47A 26-year-old man is now in police custody.
01:50I think right now people are just hoping for justice.
01:54I want to swiftly say as well, and I commend the police service for what they have done and for
01:59what they continue to do.
02:00I spoke with the senior superintendent for the area, Senior Sir Thompson.
02:06And I'm confident, having had that conversation with him, that they will solve this case very soon.
02:14As you can see, they are not family of many means, you know, very humble family, and they will need
02:24as much help as they could get.
02:26And I'm here to provide as much help as I can provide.
02:29And, of course, the country knows that the Prime Minister loves children, and this is something that will rocker to
02:36the core.
02:36And the government will be here to do what we can do to help this family as best as we
02:42can.
02:44At the family home today, relatives were crying non-stop, struggling to come to terms with the tragedy.
02:51One female relative described Mercedes as the life of the party and said while nothing could bring complete closure to
02:59the family,
03:00it would help if the persons who did the act would be placed behind bars.
03:05She also questioned the purpose of the state of emergency, noting that children are being killed.
03:13She questioned why the authorities appear to only be focused on putting an end to gun violence, saying, quote,
03:21What about kidnapping and raping?
03:23Mercedes was lying in bush.
03:26She wasn't shot.
03:28She was a little girl.
03:29She was defenceless, end quote.
03:33Renasa Cutting, TV6 News.
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