CHANTILLY, Manchester — Tears filled Joan Lewis’s eyes as she pondered why someone would walk up to her son and shoot him dead.

The grieving mother’s bewilderment was made even worse by the fact that her son, 29-year-old Ceejay Cunningham, had made their community, Chantilly, proud after he won the Prime Minister’s National Youth Award for Excellence in Agriculture two years ago.

“Every time I picture him is like I am in a dream. I don’t know what Ceejay could have done for somebody just to kill him like a dog. Him don’t live like an animal. Somebody just shoot him down and he just lie down for hours,” Lewis said on Saturday.

“When I look at what Ceejay was doing I come to one conclusion
— the only thing I think them woulda kill him fah a bad mind, nothing else, because I don’t have a clue. I am puzzled as to why dem woulda kill him, so a must bad mind,” she said as tears ran down her cheeks.

Cunningham, a young farmer who had inspired his peers, was shot dead Friday evening while tiling a house in Davyton, near Bellefield in the parish.

A police report said about 5:45 pm Cunningham and another man were working inside an unfinished house when an armed man entered and opened fire. Cunningham was shot multiple times in the upper body. His colleague was shot in the leg.

“We don’t have any information to suggest that these men were involved in any acts of criminality at this time. What we know is that they were there conducting their lawful work when they were approached and shot,” the new head of the Manchester police, Deputy Superintendent Carey Duncan, told the Jamaica Observer, adding that there is no clear motive for the murder.

“Our investigations are continuing. We are advanced in our investigation… We are encouraging anybody who may have seen or heard something to just be in contact with us, because it will go a far way in aiding our investigation. Manchester is a fairly peaceful parish. Our objective is to have it [remain] that way, but we can’t do it by ourselves, so we are appealing to the citizens of Manchester to share whatever you saw or heard,” added Duncan.

Prime Minister Andrew Holness, in a statement condemning the murder, described Cunningham as “a promising young entrepreneur and beloved member of the community of Chantilly district in Manchester.”

“His innovative approach to farming and his dedication to his community were evident in every aspect of his work. His passion for farming and entrepreneurship was recognised as he was the owner and CEO of Fairwoods Farm JA, with a quarter-acre vegetable farm, equipped with greenhouse technology,” the prime minister said.

“He was also a graduate of the south-west TVET institute obtaining several HEART/NSTA certifications. Through hard work and dedication, Ceejay exemplified the spirit of resilience and innovation in our youth,” Holness added.

Councillor Mario Mitchell (People’s National Party, Bellefield Division) said Cunningham was an uplifting figure in the communities of Chantilly and Davyton.

“This murder is very shocking to the community and to myself. He was a promising young man… an excellent farmer. He was having very successful ventures in agriculture in terms of strawberry farming and a number of other crops and things that he would have planted,” said Mitchell.

Lewis said her son was skilled in tiling, construction, and farming.

“We went to Mandeville Friday morning to deliver some stuff. He also went to Clarendon to drop off some seedlings, because he said he wanted to come back early and come to work. He was doing some tiling in Davyton,” she related.

“After him drop me off I never talk to him for the rest of the day… My other son called me and told me that shooting is in Davyton. Me start call Ceejay and wasn’t getting any answer. Then his brother called and told me ‘Dem kill Ceejay, Mommy’. Me just break down same time,” the distraught mother said.

Describing her son as peaceful and jovial, Lewis said, “He wasn’t involved in [any conflict] that I know of. He was soft-natured; if he realise that you and him a go inna conflict you won’t see him in your direction again. Him don’t like war. He is a peaceful person.”

Cunningham’s business was rapidly growing and, according to his mother, his customer base was wide.

“All of his customers are his friends, because he built a relationship with them. Sometimes I hear him talking as if he knows them well. Some of them come from Ochi (Ocho Rios), MoBay (Montego Bay), Negril, Kingston, Westmoreland
— all over Jamaica, because him deliver strawberry mostly via Knutsford Express,” she said.

She recalled that the prime minister’s youth award motivated him.

“He was also an inspiration to others. One young man said to him, ‘Come, Ceejay, you have to have a drink, you put Chantilly on the map’,” she recounted.

“The last time when the Observer came here I was so happy. I said, ‘Thank God the
Observer came into my home, not for crime, is not for anything evil, and now they come back. Oh God,” the mother cried.

Cunningham, in a February 2023 article published in the Jamaica Observer shared that he had been exposed to farming as early as age 11, planting corn, sugar cane, and mint.