Double blow for Dean dad as daughter killed at mom’s funeral
THE FATHER of 11-year-old Ananda Dean, whose rape and murder sparked national outrage more than a decade ago, is reliving that agony after his 23-yearold daughter Shanice was killed in a shocking funeral attack on Tuesday.
Gunmen struck early in the afternoon at the Meadowrest Memorial Park in Spanish Town, killing two members of a funeral party and injuring two others. The man who was killed has not been identified.
A devastated Richard Dean, who was visibly in shock and unable to maintain his composure, described hearing the shots and how he ran for cover. Shanice was not so fortunate.
“I duck and then Shanice’s mother came and said see them shot yuh daughter,” Richard said.
“Imagine me come here to bury my mother and now dem kill mi daughter. This not normal. We just celebrate her birthday,” Dean added, while clutching a handbag that belonged to his daughter.
The incident occurred just as the funeral party was getting ready to depart from the cemetery.
Travelling in a dark-blue Honda Odyssey with tinted windows, gunmen drove inside the memorial park and opened fire on a group of persons who were about to board a white Toyota Voxy van that had transported attendees to the cemetery.
A licensed firearm holder who was in the vicinity reportedly returned the fire, causing the attackers to flee.
Four persons were found suffering from gunshot wounds after the firefight subsided and were taken to Spanish Town Hospital where Shanice and another man succumbed to their injuries.
Eleven-year-old Ananda was abducted and murdered in 2008. The police search and notification campaign, Ananda Alert, was named after her.
Tuesday’s incident had vendors and funeral attendees scrambling for cover as multiple rounds were reported to have been discharged. Crime-scene detectives say they recovered more than 20 spent shells.
Senior Superintendent Howard Chambers, commander of the St Catherine North police, who visited the crime scene, acknowledged that the gunmen were on a killing mission.
“The shooters came for a specific person in the gathering,” he told
The Gleaner.
Meanwhile, some persons who attended other funerals at Meadowrest expressed concern about the lack of adequate security at the burial ground.