A local pastor did not mince words yesterday as he warned men and women of the Southside community in downown Kingstion that, unless they turn to God for cleansing from bloodshedding, the grief they bear when a loved one was killed would not end.

“More mothers, more fathers, sisters, grandmothers, uncles are going to cry because we’ve fallen in love with a culture of violence. We buy these artistes’ music and play them on our sound systems, in our cars, and in our houses, so are we surprised by what’s happening? If we as a nation don’t stop and say enough is enough, take a stand and cry out to God for help, we are going to have many more children going to an early grave,” Pastor Anthony Baugh.

He was delivering the sermon to hundreds of mourners gathered at the King’s Chapel Seventh-day Adventist Church on Windward Road in eastern Kingston to celebrate the life of 11-year-old Taysha Angel Hughes who was gunned down last month in a reprisal killing at the Central Courts Apartment in the tough Kingston Central community of Parade Gardens, better known as Southside.

He added: “If any of you know this person or persons (shooters), I’m giving you a message to give them. When man fails, police fails, school fails, God cannot fail. Ecclesiastes 8 verse 11 says ‘Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil’. And chapter 12 verse 14 saysm ‘For God shall bring every work into judgement, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.’ Judgement day is coming, and every murderer will stand before God. Some young men walk around behaving as if they’re God and they are bad, but no matte how big and bad you think you are, you are going to hear big men bawl when the great God of the universe stands, then we will see a who bad. He will put an end to the madness.”

The pastor’s sentiments were echoed by Member of Parliament for Kingston Central Reverend Ronald Thwaites, who once more condemned the killing of Taysha and charged his constituents to “stop the stupid killings”.

“There is no point in turf war to be gotten by killing the big man or big woman in the other community who is just as needy as you are. Let today be a turning a point for the lives of everyone. Today is a dress rehearsal for your funeral and mine; none of us will live forever in this life. This should never happen. This is a tragedy that will take us a long time to recover from. It is our responsibility to grow our children and train our young women and men to stop this violence. There is no progress if we continue this way,” he said.

Further, Thwaites reminded his constituents that, while he did not wish to condemn anyone, the Bible stated that, “If anyone causes one of these little ones — those who believe in me — to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.”

Taysha, who had hopes of sitting the Grade Six Achievement Test next year and going to Ardenne High School, died on June 23. She was remembered for her bright smile that brought joy to many individuals, her strong sense of self, and her love for dancing.