Woman mourns as third child murdered

A St Thomas mother on Tuesday relived a common nightmare following the murder of her daughter in a double killing that rocked the small district of Soho in the parish.

This is the third of her five children who have been brutally killed.

The first was in 2014, when the body of her eight-year-old daughter, Celeena Headman ,was found in bushes with her hands bound and her throat slashed. And in 2019, her son was shot dead in the same area.

Her latest source of loss stemmed from Tuesday morning’s terror, which claimed the life of her daughter, 25-year-old Julina Grant, who was killed alongside her partner, Middleton resident 24-year-old Armando Grant, otherwise called ‘DJ’ and ‘Killy’.

It is reported that about 2:30 a.m., the two were at a house in Soho when armed assailants kicked open the door to the board dwelling and opened fire, hitting them several times while they were in bed.

Reports from the police are that Armando Grant was being investigated as a suspect in a shooting incident in the area.

Inferring that the incident may have been an act of reprisal, Deputy Superintendent of Police O’Neil Thompson told The Gleaner that the double tragedy follows two recent murders in the area.

“It would appear to be a counter-reprisal, as we would have heard his (Grant’s) name being called during our investigations,” Thompson said, adding that the police have since stepped up their presence in Soho and surrounding communities.

The Community Safety and Security Unit has also been deployed to offer counselling to the grieving family, the deputy superintendent said.

Tension and gloom have shrouded Soho, as residents express fear for their lives in light of the upsurge of violence.

“Our environment was okay until they shot a guy in Bump, Soho, the other day. From that, it’s just violence, violence,” said one resident, who requested anonymity.

The woman told The Gleaner that fear has crippled everyone in the area.

“Right now, mi feel like up here fi guh under curfew, where nobody can leave their house, and just have police and soldiers run the place. If that doesn’t happen, then everybody going to just dead off,” she said.

Remembering the now-deceased Julina as a “happy” person, one family member blamed her demise on her acquaintance with Killy, the terrifying alias of the man who was murdered alongside her.

“She don’t keep up with bad company. Is just her boyfriend is that type of person. He was the one they come for, but because she was there they killed her, too. Wrong place, wrong time,” she said.

Julina, she said, died leaving a five-year-old child.

“It’s not finished. There is going to be more killing up here,” the relative added.

shanna.monteith@gleanerjm.com