By Francine Black, Staff ReporterA LOVING father, a concerned community member, a jovial friend and an honest police officer. These are some of the words used to describe Senior Superintendent (SSP) Lloyd 'Tony' McDonald, who was murdered in Kingston on Friday night.
"My father was a crowd-pleaser, always goofing around," was how Chantelle, his older daughter, described him in an interview with The Gleaner, yesterday.
His wife, Donna, who has had to undergo medical treatment, was barely coping with his death. Mrs. McDonald, wearing one of her husband's shirts, sat in a quiet silence, broken occasionally only by cries of anguish.
Since Friday night, a steady flow of relatives, friends, neighbours and colleagues, has visited.
The McDonalds were married for the last 15 years but the couple was together for 28 years. Mrs. McDonald said: "We need help because they are going to go back and kill somebody else. We need help."
Other family members encouraged the killers to turn to God. "I want to tell them to find a church, give their heart to the Lord because we are a praying family and vengeance is the Lord's," one family member said.
Edward Seaga, leader of the Jamaica Labour Party, in an interview yesterday, said he could not fathom the reason for the killing.
"He always got along with everybody, he was very professional. He was one who was really liked. That is why it is a mystery as to how this happened," Mr. Seaga said. Mr. McDonald was part of Mr. Seaga's security detail during the 1980s and at one time worked closely with the Denham Town community, western Kingston, a part of Mr. Seaga's constituency.
Mr. Seaga said he hoped the police would solve the case quickly.
MEMORIES
Family members, including his daughter, Danielle, recounted experiences they shared with SSP McDonald, who they said had a love for policing. Chantelle said she had told him she did not want to marry a policeman because of the danger that comes with the job.
She said that on the night he died, he should have exchanged vehicles with his wife. However, he came home, parked his wife's car and got into the police car instead of taking his own unmarked car.
Senior Superintendent McDonald, 46, was driving a marked patrol car which was apparently trailed by gunmen travelling on a motorcycle. As he was about to turn left at the intersection at Waterloo and Devon roads, St. Andrew, the bike pulled up along side his car and the pillion rider shot him, killing him at the scene.
The Jamaica Police Officers' Association and Jamaicans for Justice both expressed their outrage at the slaying of the police officer. In separate news releases they called for law-abiding citizens to speak out.
"It is now time for law-abiding citizens of Jamaica to wake up, join with the police and take a strong resolute stance against crime and violence in this country," the police officers' association said.
In condemning the killing, Derrick Smith, the JLP's spokesman for national security, said the death served as "a reminder that the country has been plunged in an abyss of crime and violence."
He said the brazenness of criminals in snuffing out the life of a policeman of such a rank and stature was frightening and signified that the authorities were not making any progress in effectively breaking the back of 'this scourge'.
