MONTEGO BAY, St James – As 11 year-old Kimone Hood celebrated her achievement in attaining the Scotia Bank County Scholarship for Cornwall yesterday, her only regret was that her father was not around to celebrate with her.

“I really wish my father was still alive,” said Kimone.

“I am really sorry that he had to die,” she said to the Observer, as she sat quietly with her GSAT teacher Arlene Simpson at the Howard Cooke Primary School in Montego Bay.

Two weeks ago, Kimone’s father, Rohan Hood, was shot and killed by gunmen while he sat in his taxi motorcar that he operated in the volatile Norwood community of St James.

He reportedly received three bullets to the head, shortly after 8:00 pm on May 28.

His death has caused young Kimone much grief as her father played a pivotal role in her development.

“Her father used to be here (at school) everyday. He would take her to school in the mornings; pick her back up in the evenings … he was that kind of father,” said Simpson.

She added that shortly after the GSAT exams in March she told Rohan that she was confident his daughter would attain a scholarship.

“I was confident that she would get one; she has always been an ‘A’ student. In fact, last year her class average was 97,” Simpson noted.

Kimone’s mother, Hermalin Hood, also had high praises for her daughter.

“I know that she would do well. At least, we now have something to celebrate. The death of my husband has really made us feel down,” she said in a telephone interview with the Observer.

Kimone said meantime that she is looking forward to going to the Montego Bay High School in September.

She told the Observer that she thought she had done well enough in her exams, but had not expected a scholarship.

“I was very surprised when I was told that I got a scholarship. I did not know that I had done so well,” the soft-spoken awardee said.

Kimone plans to become an economist.

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