{"id":2183,"date":"2019-02-16T01:03:44","date_gmt":"2019-02-16T01:03:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/westernmirror.com\/?p=2183"},"modified":"2019-02-16T01:03:47","modified_gmt":"2019-02-16T01:03:47","slug":"desperate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/westernmirror.com\/?p=2183","title":{"rendered":"Desperate"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><strong>Parents of stolen baby plead for help<\/strong><\/li><li><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em><strong>Sashane Shakes<\/strong> &#8211; Staff Reporter<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>To say Walton Evans, 41, and common law wife, 34-year-old Latoya Whyte, have had the going tough, would be a gross understatement. Earlier this year, on Friday, January 4, 2019, the couple\u2019s then newborn, Vernisha Evans, was abducted from the Cornwall Regional Hospital car park. In that incident, Whyte entrusted a woman to hold the newborn as she went to the bathroom, and upon her return, she discovered that the woman had left the premises with the infant.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Although young Vernisha made it safely back to them, Evans\u2019\nburdens, those current and from the past, have him terrified that he may lose\nher again, just like he lost his first daughter ten years ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Evans revealed to the <strong>Western Mirror<\/strong> that in the case of his first daughter, who will be turning 12 in May of this year, he was deemed unfit to care for her.\u201cI had my first daughter on my handcart in the market and them come down there come take her from me.\u201d In three (3) desperate attempts to get her back and on two (2) occasions, \u201cthey said I was dirty and the third time I was late,\u201d he shared.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Since then, he has not been able to get over the memory of\nthe Child Development Agency taking her away from him, and now, with the\ncouple\u2019s financial situation looking as bad as ever, Evans in particular has\nbeen nothing short of paranoid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The tearful father shared that he has had to be following\nhis common law wife around almost everywhere, for fear that at any moment, his\nbeloved daughter may again be whisked away. Beneath that paranoia lies a very\nharsh truth \u2013 neither Evans nor Whyte can afford basic necessities to care for\nyoung Vernisha, rendering them helpless should the CDA decide to act again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIt rough man. I can hardly afford to buy feed for the baby\nand when mi done buy food for me and Latoya, I can\u2019t even buy yam at the\nmarket. Is \u2018Badoo\u2019 that grow in we yard me and Latoya eat,\u201d shared a crying\nEvans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u2018<strong>BAD LUCKY\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Whyte, who is unemployed, stays at home with Vernisha while\nEvans works in order to maintain upkeep of the household. Evans is a contracted\nworker for the National Solid Waste Management Agency (NSWMA), with whom he\njust renewed his contract, which will see him being paid $19,000 bi-weekly once\nhe starts working. Currently, however, as a street cleaner, he is unable to do\nmuch. Evans relayed that he is unable to work on the NSWMA truck due to having\na bad back after being hit down by a car while sweeping along the Lilliput main\nroad. He shared that he was struck down a second time by a bus in Freeport,\nMontego Bay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cSometime me have to sit down and wonder why me so bad lucky\nso. Me just bad lucky bad,\u201d said Evans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He has had to be doing a few odd jobs just so his family can\nmake it through the day, one of which includes selling sugarcane for a woman\nwho lives in his area. Evans has also found himself converting wire to copper,\nand collecting bottles and selling them to wholesale and retail supermarkets.\n\u201cIs not that me really want to do these things but me rather do a honest job\nthan go thief,\u201d said a humble Evans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The couple and their child share a two-bedroom dwelling at\nTangle River in St. James, but Evans has hopes of adding a small bathroom and\nkitchen, as those amenities are currently separate from the house, which is\nproving challenging with the new addition to his family. \u201cMe keep my house\nclean and in good condition but I need to add the bathroom and kitchen because\nthat will be better to raise my daughter,\u201d he said in his interview with the\nWestern Mirror. \u201c100 blocks go for around $12,000 now, but me need around 200\nblocks to start and I can\u2019t afford it with the pay I\u2019m going to get,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Despite those struggles and pressing needs, Evans insists\nthat his living conditions are much better.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThree social workers evaluated the house and I passed the\ntest. The house is fit to raise our baby in but I need the extra help,\u201d he\nshared.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The couple has done the best they can to stay afloat, but\nthings are increasingly becoming tougher, as though Evans has a renewed\ncontract with NSWMA, he will have to work a month before getting paid. In the\ninterim, their living expenses are skyrocketing, and the centre of their world\n\u2013 baby Vernisha, may feel that harder than any of them. As a result, the family\nis pleading for any assistance they can get.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIt nuh have to be money,\u201d Evans pleaded, \u201cbut the baby need\nclothes and other little baby things.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Anyone wishing to assist Walton with clothing for his child,\nthe baby\u2019s mother and himself, as well as food, toiletries and\/or cash, can do\nso by calling him at (876) 586-8977 or (876) 497-2479.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Parents of stolen baby plead for help Sashane Shakes &#8211; Staff Reporter To say Walton Evans, 41, and common law wife, 34-year-old Latoya Whyte, have had the going tough, would be a gross understatement. Earlier this year, on Friday, January 4, 2019, the couple\u2019s then newborn, Vernisha Evans, was abducted from the Cornwall Regional Hospital [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2184,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[1156,427,880,1160,1155,1158,1159,30],"class_list":["post-2183","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","tag-bad-lucky","tag-child-development-agency","tag-desperation","tag-latoya-whyte","tag-missing-infant","tag-vernisha-evans","tag-walton-evans","tag-western-jamaica"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/westernmirror.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2183","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/westernmirror.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/westernmirror.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/westernmirror.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/westernmirror.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2183"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/westernmirror.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2183\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2185,"href":"https:\/\/westernmirror.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2183\/revisions\/2185"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/westernmirror.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2184"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/westernmirror.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2183"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/westernmirror.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2183"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/westernmirror.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2183"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}