Glenroy Sinclair, Staff Reporter
June 21, 2005 will be embedded in Ann-Marie Bowen's mind for the rest of her life. It is the day that she lost her two-year-old niece to a gunman's bullet.
What has made the incident more painful for the 30-year-old woman was the fact that she watched as the life slipped away from the child's small frame.
"I had her in my lap, on our way to the hospital, then I saw her take two gasps, and her eyes began rolling over, Ms. Bowen told The Gleaner yesterday. "By the time we rushed into the hospital, the doctor came back out and said she had died; then we all started to cry."
The infant, Toni-Ann Thomas, was struck by a bullet which punched a large hole in her upper back and exited through her left side. Reports are that the child had just finished having her dinner and had gone to her father's room to spend time with him.
"She was standing in front of me when I heard the gunshots. Something hit me on my finger, then I realised that I had got shot. It was the same bullet that killed her," related the child's father, Anthony Thomas.
Reports are that the gunmen invaded a home on York Avenue in Hunts Bay, St. Andrew, where Mr. Thomas lives with his child's mother, Sophia Thompson. During wild gunfire one of the bullets pierced the wooden frame of his house and snuffed out the life of his daughter.
Yesterday residents reported an upsurge of killings in the community since last Saturday when two women were killed execution-style. Following that incident, there have been several reprisal attacks.
When a Gleaner news team visited the area yesterday, parents expressed concerns about the safety of their children. Word on the street is that what happened to Toni-Ann could have happened to anybody.
"All we are hearing now is that they (the gunmen) said they are sorry," said Ms. Thompson.
With the summer holidays approaching, several parents said they will be sending their children to rural parishes.
