GRANGE HILL, Westmoreland — A bizarre series of events has left four people dead in this rural community, a teenager hospitalised, and stunned residents numb with sorrow.

As he attempted to elude a man who had shot him, 46-year-old Hopeton Stewart lost control of the vehicle he was driving and drove into a crowd of people who had gathered after a traditional gravedigging. At least five people were hit; three died. The 13-year-old daughter of one of the crash victims is among those injured.

In addition to Stewart — who later died at hospital — the dead include Denise Richards, mother of the hospitalised teen; Roselyn Shearer-Grant, a resident from a nearby community who was vending during the gravedigging; and another man who has not yet been identified by name.

It all began innocuously about 7:30 pm on Sunday. Stewart, a farmer who is also known as Bogle or Blacks, went to pick up his girlfriend on the Jerusalem main road in Grange Hill. As he prepared to get out of the vehicle a man shot him.

Stewart then sped away, but lost control of his grey Toyota Voxy motor car, mowing down a small group of people.

On Monday, the families of the dead tried to make sense of it all.

Among them was Stewart’s sister, Maureen. She said she had a dream Saturday night that her brother got shot to death — three bullets pumped into his body. She warned him not to leave home. He promised that he would not, but did not keep his word. Less than 24 hours after his sister’s warning, he was dead.

His death is just the latest in their family.

“A three year mi a mourn. Mi fada dead year before last year. Him did have poor circulation and them cut off him foot. Last year dem murder mi sister June inna cold blood and burn har, and now dem shoot mi bredda inna him head,” Maureen Stewart said as she wept and clutched her stomach.

The dead man’s mother, 77-year-old Norma Stewart, lamented the trail of death that has been sweeping across not just her immediate family but all of Jamaica.

“So many people are dying without a cause because of the crime in this country and we are losing our loved ones. Mi cannot make it,” she whispered as she broke down in tears.

At the mere sound of the word “condolence”, Crystal Shearer was reduced to tears. Her sister, Roselyn Shearer-Grant, had attended the gravedigging hoping to earn some extra money from selling her wares.

“Honestly, mi know seh she dead, but mi still inna disbelief. Mi a try to stay strong but it nah work,” said Shearer, who told the Observer she was at home when her cousin came with news of her sister’s death.

Barefoot, she ran to the scene of the crash, but by then her sister had been taken to hospital. Those who saw what happened told her Roselyn’s legs had been completely severed. In panic, Shearer called her sister’s cellphone. There was no answer.

For Dwayne Williams, it was a phone call that turned his life upside down. That was how he learned of his common-law wife Denise’s death.

“I was watching TV and cooking two peg a breadfruit, yam, and pumpkin and try to steam fish. Mi turn off the stove [upon getting the sad news] and all now dem deh pan the stove,” he said, adding that the incident has left him traumatised.

As he mourns the death of his partner of 13 years, he is also worried about her 13-year-old daughter, Camille, who is now hospitalised in serious condition. He has turned to alcohol to numb the pain but it is not enough. On Monday, his tears flowed freely.

According to Ucal McLauren, who said he saw the car crash, his first instinct was to hit the driver of the car. Then he realised the man had been shot.

“When him roll over him go dung inna di gully and stuck the vehicle. Mi was going to lick him ’cause mi a seh him shouldn’t do dat. Den mi [realise] a gunshot him get. Mi wah know why dem shoot him,” the farmer said in disbelief.

He, along with the rest of the farming community, is now in mourning.