Mother wants help for 21-y-o son after father’s murder
Published:Thursday | March 17, 2022 | 12:10 AM
A mother is pleading for public assistance for her only living son, Shawn Wallace, to spare him a fate similar to his father’s, who was brutally killed on Tuesday night in Denham Town, Kingston.
Sharon Nelson, who also needs help to bury her son’s father, is desperate to steer the 21-year-old away from a life of crime.
She said that his record is unblemished and does not want him to avenge his father’s death. Another son of hers had passed away previously.
Paul Wallace, a higgler, was gunned down while he stood at his gate on Tulip Lane about 7:30 p.m.
A 64-year-old woman, known only as Carol, was also struck by bullets as gunmen reportedly entered the lane from the adjoining Regent Street and Bread Lane.
Bloodstains lined the street on Wednesday.
The elder Wallace was reportedly standing near a shop at his gate discussing football when attackers armed with high-powered weapons streamed on to the road.
She said more than 20 explosions rang out and disclosed that she was tramautised at the sight of Wallace suffering from gunshot wounds.
She said that Shawn has been inconsolable since his father’s murder.
“Him father carry him wherever him deh go get work for him. Him sell foreign things. Like him father deh right yah so and him dung deh suh,” Nelson said, with her head in hands.
There is an ongoing conflict in the area, but Nelson said she is unaware of the motive for the attack.
There is a security post nearby, but residents reported that there have not been sufficient boots on the ground.
Shawn Wallace told The Gleaner that he has had an interest in business but never fully pursued his dream while in school.
“The drama thing was my thing, but business overall, mi like that field. I was doing construction and selling goods,” Shawn said.
The community is on edge as they fear another attack.
“The amount of shot, mi tink a incursion ... ,” a resident, who withheld their identity, said.
Security has been beefed up in the community since the shooting.
As at Tuesday, murders in the Kingston Western Police Division were on par with 2021 data.
Since the start of the year, 21 murders have been recorded.
Shootings, at 17, were down 32 per cent, compared to 25 for the corresponding period in 2021.