Autopsy confirms 12-year-old Mercedez Layne died from blunt force injuries

Trinidad and Tobago: A post-mortem examination conducted on Monday, June 8, confirmed that 12-year-old Mercedez Layne died of blunt force injuries. The autopsy was performed by a forensic pathologist Dr. Somu Gajula.

Mercedes’ body was found early Sunday morning by a worker from Trinity Exploration and Production Services - an oil well site on Carapal Road.

He was visiting Well ER-46 for maintenance work at around 6:43 am when he made the discovery, which was less than 24 hours after she was reported missing. The worker immediately alerted the Erin Police Station.

Officers of the South Western Division High Performance Patrol and Response Team also reported to the scene and found the body of the child lying face down near the well site. She was wearing a green t-shirt but was nude from waist down. They also noted injuries to her forehead.

Crime scene investigators collected several items from the area, including a right-foot slipper, denim shorts, green and pink underwear, a cream coloured cloth, a black plastic bag with four packs of ramen noodles, a pack of Lucky Strike cigarettes, a broken Stag beer bottle, and a circular piece of wood. The items were sent for forensic testing.

Mercedez, a student of Erin R C School, was last seen alive on Saturday, June 6. Her grandfather, Morisso Gastoigne, placed her in a purple station wagon at around 11:30 am to travel to her mother’s home on Los Iros Beach Road. He described the driver as a slim man of African descent with Rastafarian-tyle hair.

When she did not arrive at her mother’s home, relatives started searching for her. Her grandfather later filed a missing persons report with the police.

The driver of the vehicle has been taken into custody and is being questioned at the Erin Police Station. Police also found the car abandoned at Palo Seco Beach Road. The investigation remains ongoing.