Glenroy Sinclair, Staff Reporter
Five-year-old Monifer Small shows the scars resulting from gunshot wounds inflicted when gangsters led a deadly attack on a tenement yard on Mulgrave Lane, Kingston 11, on November 18. - RICARDO MAKYN/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
AS TRAUMATIC as it was, 50-year-old Horace Small finds it difficult to erase the tragedy of November 18 from his memory.
That Friday morning, heavily-armed gunmen firebombed the tenement yard at 11 Mulgrave Lane in Kingston, where he and his family lived.
They sprayed the houses with bullets, shooting Mr. Small, his spouse, Teresa Smith, and their five-year-old daughter Monifer. A neighbour, 25-year-old Wayne Gordon, was among three persons murdered during the guerrilla-like attack on the small community.
"Life since then has become even more difficult, because we lost everything in the fire. Nothing was saved," said a fatigued Mr. Small, who has lived in the community for more than 25 years.
He was grazed by a bullet in the left side of his head. His spouse is still hospitalised. A bullet fired from one of the high-powered rifles fractured her left hand which demanded surgery.
A father of three, Mr. Small said his 39-year-old spouse is now awaiting medication he has ordered from overseas. His concern is the time it may take to get off the wharf.
But apart from trying to cope with the high hospital bills for his daughter and spouse, a horrified Mr. Small has since moved from the Mulgrave Lane community.
FAMILY SPLIT
"I am now staying with some relatives, while my daughter is somewhere else," he told The Gleaner yesterday. "When my daughter's mother is discharged from hospital, we will have to live apart until we can find a place and start life over again. Prior to the incident, we were living together very happily."
Fearful of further attacks, Mr. Small has removed his daughter from the basic school she once attended because of its proximity to the community. He is now searching for a new school.
Monifer's scars from fragments of the
gunmen's bullets are not only physical, but have also had a huge psychological toll. She was hospitalised for two weeks after the November incident.
"Today (yesterday) I took her back to the hospital for the stitches to come out," said Mr. Small, pointing to the wound.
The other fatalities of the attack were Sandra Honeyghan, 47, and her son, Kohinda Boothe, 23. Other persons injured in the incident were Andrew Coombs and Shantell Boothe.
According to the police, a group of about 15 heavily-armed gunmen invaded Mulgrave Lane shortly after 2:00 a.m., kicking down the doors of several tenement apartments. They then opened fire indiscriminately.
Superintendent in charge of the Kingston West Police Division, Delroy Hewitt, told The Gleaner yesterday that at least three persons, including the main suspect, had been taken into custody. He said one of them is likely to be charged.
