A 10-year-old child appeared to be in a daze on Tuesday.

She watched sadly as her grandmother grieved Monday night’s brutal slaying of her father, the girl could do nothing more than shake her head slowly.

“Why them kill him? Why? Him was not a troublemaker and worked hard to take care of his only child. Them kill me pickney,” the woman said sadly.

The little girl was at a loss for words. Her eyes deeply reddened apparently from crying for hours. The most she could do was stare aimlessly into space before retreating to the confines of her home on Maxfield Avenue.

Her late father, Albert Nathaniel Gordon also called ‘Aye Aye’, operated a route taxi which plied the Half-Way-Tree to Maxfield route. After he loaded his taxi and pulled out of the lay-by at Mandela Park in Half-Way-Tree, it seemed to be another routine drive to the intersection of Maxfield Avenue and Spanish Town Road.

But it was not to be.

As Gordon’s blue Nissan stationwagon reached Kings Avenue in Richmond Park, one of three male passengers produced a $500 bill and asked him to pull over so he could get off. Gordon dutifully reached into his pocket for change but the male passenger had other intentions.

He grabbed at Gordon’s pocket in an effort to relieve him of the cash he had earned for the day and a struggle developed.

As the two struggled, another of the male passengers who was actually an accomplice reportedly pulled a gun and shot Gordon once in the head before pushing him from the taxi.

The third man jumped from the taxi and scampered from the scene but not before the gunman pointed the gun in his direction and fired two shots.

Police report that the third man was not hurt and managed to flee the area.

“I have five daughters and two sons and they took my last son from me. We were very close,” Walker said as she was comforted by pastor of the Liberty Hall Cathedral, Jean Barrett.

She said Gordon had just started driving a route taxi since last week Thursday.

His colleagues, who also plied the Maxfield route, gathered at the home and silently protested his brutal killing.

While they had not withdrawn their services, the taxi drivers were incensed that one of their own had been cut down in such a senseless fashion.

President of the All-Island United Route Taxi Association Raymond Bynes told the Jamaica Observer that Gordon was the fifth route taxi driver to be killed in Richmond Park.

“About 12 drivers have been robbed in that area and five have been killed. Since this association has been formed several years ago, about 15 drivers have been killed. A lot of others have been robbed, beaten and their cars taken away,” Bynes said.

He was also critical of a police officer who he said refused to transport Gordon to hospital although he was still alive when the police team arrived on the scene.

“The policeman refused to carry the victim to the hospital as he said he was not assigned to the vehicle he was driving. That is unacceptable. If as a taxi driver I see a policeman injured in the streets should I take him to hospital in a bid to save his life?” Bynes asked.

Another driver also chastised the police for paying all the attention to them while unscrupulous persons are known to gather in Mandela Park with the intent to rob.

“The two men who killed ‘Aye Aye’ were seen lurking in the park for some time. They looked suspicious but no police don’t move to them, instead they spent their time harassing us. They need to pay more attention to the people who frequent the park and get out some of the idlers. This man did not have to die like this,” the driver said.