Relatives mourn loved ones slain by merciless gunmen in Cherry Tree Lane
THE smell of blood and loud wails from grieving relatives of the victims of Sunday night’s mass killing in Cherry Tree Lane in Clarendon permeated the atmosphere on Monday morning, telling the tale of the terror which unfolded while people played a game of bingo and listened to music at a birthday celebration just outside a bar.
A total of eight people, including a seven-year-old boy, were shot dead while nine others were injured by gunmen’s bullets in what is believed to have been a reprisal for a shooting incident a few years ago.
The deceased have been identified as seven-year-old Aiden Bartley; 27-year-old Kavel Daley; 50-year-old Lawrence Francis; 20-year-old Diamond Bennett; 68-year-old Errol Stewart; 32-year-old Jermaine Boothe; Courtney Messam; and a woman known only as Margaret.
One of the victims was shot dead in a separate part of the community, some distance away from the others, as the gunmen made their escape.
What added to the horrific tale was the sight of numerous pairs of slippers, scattered all over the scene, which were in some cases covered in curdled blood, swarmed by huge, noisy flies. The scattered slippers indicated that the people who were playing bingo or standing in close proximity to the bingo table scampered for cover, leaving behind their footwear as bullets were fired in their direction. On the table, which was in very close proximity to the bar, bingo cards were still laid out and marked with dollar coins, indicating that the game was in full swing when the gunmen, armed with at least one M16 rifle and handguns, popped up at the scene.
The relatives of 20-year-old victim Diamond Bennett initially showed signs of strength when the Jamaica Observer and journalists from other media entites arrived at their house. However, as they recounted their last moments and conversations with the young woman, tears flowed down their faces.
Marjorie Johnson, the mother of Bennett, said she did not know the right words which could describe how wonderful her daughter was. She was at work when she got the call that Bennett had been killed.
“I couldn’t even hear the person on the phone because she was crying out loud. I thought she said something about my son, but I kept getting calls that it was Diamond. My boss released me and I went straight to the hospital. When I went there, Diamond was in emergency so I couldn’t see her. The doctor came out and asked if I was her mom and I said yes. She asked me if I knew that she died, and I said no. She said they tried their best but she couldn’t make it,” Johnson said as tears began to well up in her eyes.
“Diamond was a loving, caring, and jovial person. Words can’t express. My last moment with Diamond was Saturday night. I was supposed to attend a party, and I asked her if she had a drive and she said no. I said, ‘Since you don’t have any drive, I am going to go to my bed.’ I did not know if she went to the party because she lives with her boyfriend. That was the last time,” Johnson said before sharing that her daughter had her sights set on becoming a teacher.
“Diamond always spoke about teaching. She met in an accident right out there on the road less than a month ago where she suffered broken bones and a fractured spine. She did an interview with Ebony Park [Academy] to come in to start doing some schooling and she couldn’t go because she was in the hospital. Sunday night I said to my sister that God had given Diamond a second chance and she didn’t make use of it. God slowed her down just for her to stay one place. She could be alive at this moment,” the distraught mother said, pointing out the irony of her daughter having a conversation with her aunt roughly one week ago about how expensive coffins and funerals were and that she didn’t want to die anytime soon.
As the Observer approached the house where Lawrence Fisher lived with his wife Debbie-Ann Hamilton-Francis, she was heard moaning from a distance. As the news team got closer her legs were seen shaking profusely as she slapped her knees repeatedly.
She had to be supported by her daughter and other relatives, especially because she didn’t only lose a husband to the hands of the murderers but she also lost a daughter, Kavel Daley, and her cousin Courtney Messam in the attack as well.
As she stomped her feet continuously she repeatedly chanted, “Woi, woi, woi! Lord. Lord Jesus, Jesus.”
“Why did they do this to me?” she asked.
“Mi pickney dead. A inna mi hand Gary dead. Dem kill mi husband and mi pickney and mi cousin. Dem shoot out mi cousin eye, dem shoot out mi husband heart, and dem shoot mi daughter in her head. God, why me, God? I can’t bear it. Mi empty inside God, mi empty!
“Gary feed me for the last time and never know seh him a guh dead. It hot, it hot. Jesus! Mi neva want none a dem go weh lef mi. Lord, I can’t bear it. Mi belly a bun mi,” she said as her screams and wails pierced the morning.
Not much information could be ascertained on the other victims at the time the Observer visited the scene. However, relatives suggested it would make sense to do follow-up visits when emotions are not as high and the space not as tense.
On Monday a 96-hour curfew was imposed in the immediate space to include Cherry Tree Lane, the general community of Four Paths, and other areas.
