Nine-year-old Kelsey Ferrigon was laid to rest on Monday.
The child was murdered at her home in Job Lane, Spanish Town, St. Catherine on May 9, 2025.
Members of the security forces were among those in attendance at the thanksgiving service on Monday.
Relatives of the murdered nine-year-old wore pink, matching her casket.
Education Minister Dr. Dana Morris Dixon challenged families to call out offenders.
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Nakinskie Robinson reports
The thanksgiving service was held on Monday for Kelsey Ferrigon, the nine-year-old girl who was murdered at her home in Job Lane, Spanish Town, St. Catherine last month.
Scores of mourners gathered at the Spanish Town Seventh-day Adventist Church on Brunswick Avenue to pay their respects and support the family.
A small white and pink casket and a community in quiet mourning filled the church hall as a little Kelsey Ferrigon was laid to rest and her memory carried in the tearful whispers of loved ones who never imagined saying goodbye so soon.
Killed on May 9, during Child's Month, her death has left a community shattered, a family broken, and a country once again questioning how far it's fallen in protecting children.
At Monday's ceremony, Education Minister Dr. Dana Morris Dixon, who again decried the brutal incident, said Kelsey was filled with promise and represented the exemplary character of a future nation builder.
In an emotional charge, the minister challenged families to call out offenders.
"We must not allow Kelsey's life to pass without meaning, and I don't want to go to a funeral again with another pretty programme like this. But guess what? If you look around in this room today, I am telling you there are children in here who are currently being abused. There are women in this church who are being abused, and young boys too - talking about the abuse they are going through at home. This is not an isolated incident, but guess what? We don't like to admit the truth. And we need to stop pretending that those who are in our family are innocent. They are not innocent," she stressed.
Kelsey was a student at St. John's Primary School, and Dr. Morris Dixon said support will be provided where needed.
"No minister of education, much less a family, friends, parents, must experience why we are gathered here today. This is not a normal event. Students, though, I say to you, you don't have to bear the pain alone. The Ministry of Education team is here. The Ministry of Education team will work with the schools to provide whatever counselling is needed," the minister pledged.
Meanwhile, a sombre Member of Parliament for St. Catherine Central Olivia Grange, who also expressed condolences on behalf of Prime Minister Dr. Andrew Holness, called for the public to campaign against such brutality in society.
"Today, we the people of Jamaica must start a Kelsey Ferrigon campaign, that never again should we as a people gather for such a situation as this. Every time I think of the results of the autopsy, too gruesome to speak of, it pains my heart. She was a quiet little giant whose ambition knew no boundaries," Minister Grange bemoaned.
The attacker, 30-year-old Giovanni Ellis, otherwise called 'Coolie Man', was killed on May 12 in Clarendon, reportedly in a shootout with the
police.
A post-mortem examination found that Kelsey died by strangulation. The findings confirmed that the child was raped and hair strands from her killer were found on her body.
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