Stalked by death
IT appears death has been stalking the Walters family.
Days after the family was left mourning the death of 22-year-old Shanique Walters, the University of Technology, Jamaica, student who was last Thursday shot dead while on her way home from school, her family has revealed that this is not the first such tragedy in the family.
Her mother, Heather Walters, in an interview with the Jamaica Observer, said her daughter’s death comes four years after that of her own mother who was mowed down and killed.
“When I look back on this tragedy, it’s hard to cope. It was just a few years ago I lost my own mother,” Mrs Walters said.
“My mother was coming from church with her church sister and were waiting at a bus stop when a vehicle came out of nowhere and struck both of them down,” she said.
Reports are that the driver was heading towards Three Miles.
Walters said her mother died on the spot, while her church sister sustained multiple injuries and was taken to the Kingston Public Hospital where she later died.
Police report that Shanique and another female student were walking on Hope Boulevard in Hope Pastures, St Andrew, shortly before 7:00 pm, when two men in a silver motorcar drove up and demanded that they hand over their bags. The friend reportedly complied, but Walters refused and ran.
Police said that was when one of the men got out of the car and shot her in the head as she ran, killing her on the spot. Her lifeless body was left in a pool of blood on the side of the road.
The Observer previously reported that two weeks before her death, a man attempted to lure the student into a vehicle.
Her death has sent shock waves across the country.
Meanwhile, residents in the area said the attack was just one of several taking place in the area.
“In the past two to three months we have had more than 20 robberies taking place in the area,” said one resident who declined being named.
Police have since said that the residents were not reporting many of the incidents.
“If the robberies are taking place and they are not reported, then this makes the job of the police harder,” said one senior officer.