A grieving mother said on Friday that despite the fact that her daughter is gone forever, she forgives the man who she believes is her daughter’s killer.

“I want our nation to know that we have to forgive,” said Mrs. Thurston (wishing to have her first name excluded). “That’s the only way that we are going to get closure. That’s the only way we’re going to heal.”

Mrs. Thurston made the remarks while awaiting the arraignment of her daughter’s accused murderer. She sat patiently on a bench in Court 9 wearing the memorial pin of her 21-year-old child – Georgette Rahming.

Finally, Rahming was able to look into the eyes of alleged killer 22-year-old Anthony Bethel as he was ushered into the room by officers.

“I forgive you,” she said to Bethel as he walked by her clad in a white t-shirt, black jeans and tennis.

Bethel stood before Chief Magistrate Joyann Ferguson Pratt to hear the charges filed against him.

Dockets indicate that by means of unlawful harm he did intentionally cause the death of Georgette Rahming.

According to reports, on May 26th Rahming became the country’s 61st murder victim of the year shortly after 11:00 p.m. while standing on her porch of her home off Baillou Hill Road, she became involved in an argument with a man who shot her in the face and fled the scene.

However, Mrs Thurston told The Bahama Journal that her daughter was sitting outside using her cell phone when “someone snuck into the yard and shot her in the back of her head and back”.

At the end of the day, the victim’s mother said the pain she feels will never go away.

But one of the most painful things about the ordeal for her is having questions gone unanswered.

“Why?” she said. “Why would you pick up a gun and kill someone? You didn’t give life. Who gave you that authority to take somebody’s life?”

She continued that she still stands on forgiveness because no matter what authorities do with Bethel, her daughter is gone forever.

Before Bethel was taken out of the court, he requested protection as he was receiving threats in prison. The chief magistrate agreed to honour his request.
Bethel was remanded to the Bahamas Department of Corrections Services until October 15 when he will appear again before Ferguson Pratt for a Voluntary Bill of Indictment (VBI), which will fast forward the case to the Supreme Court.