She wasn’t supposed to be there
Family in shock at killing of 14-y-o at bike show
WHEN RENEE Clarke’s phone rang shortly after midnight into yesterday, and the shaky, unknown voice on the other end told her that her youngest sister, Shanique Clarke, had just been cut down in a hail of bullets, it sounded like a sick joke.
For starters, the incident unfolded at a property along Bowens Road, off Waltham Park Road in St Andrew, when 14year-old Shanique was supposed to be staying with relatives in Arnett Gardens.
Renée, however, would later learn that her sister had pulled a fast one on the family and opted to attend a bike show near Bowens Road in what would prove to be her final hours.
“She left out Friday afternoon to go stay with her grandmother and other family who live round a Jungle. We (Renée and her father) confirmed that she reach safely Friday, we talk to her Saturday, and up to Sunday morning, we confirm that she at her grandmother,” shared Renée when The Gleaner visited the family home off Lyndhurst Road yesterday.
Her father, an emotional Michael Clarke, also tried to piece together what went wrong.
“My bigger daughter, who also live over Jungle, tell me that she see Shanique Sunday night around six to seven o’clock and Shanique tell her that she was coming to me. She say my bigger daughter tell her that I say not to come over tonight because the time late, so stay till Monday because she don’t have school till Tuesday. She (Shanique) tell her sister that she going around her aunty go sleep when she know say a bike show she a go,”he recounted.
In disbelief, he lamented, “Me can’t believe this reach my daughter.”
For 18-year-old Renée, her sister was a playful, fun-loving girl with big dreams.
“She was ready for school tomorrow (Tuesday) and just needed to wash her uniform to go out. I can’t believe this,” she expressed, tears streaming down her face.
“She never said what she wanted to become in life exactly, but she was always positive about making a better life. This is the worst news ever.”
Reports from the Hunts Bay Police are that about 10:55 p.m. on Sunday, Shanique, a grade eight student at Spanish Town High School, was among a group of four persons, aged 14 to 16 years old, who were surprised by a group of rifle-toting thugs firing indiscriminately. All four were shot.