Robert Lalah, Assistant Editor-Features

Samantha Prince - Norman Grindley/Deputy Chief Photographer

Whenever Andrew Prince leaves his home in White Horses, St. Thomas, these days, he hears people whispering that he's the father of the 15-year-old girl who was killed when winds from Hurricane Dean swept across the island.

Samantha Prince, a soft-spoken but friendly girl with a bright smile and happy demeanour, died inside her home in White Horses, when a strong gust of wind lifted a concrete block that was resting on the roof of a nearby house and propelled it through the zinc roof of her home. The block hit Samantha on her head, knocking her out immediately.

Don't mind whispering

On Friday, Andrew Prince was walking along a street in White Horses when a group of women sitting on a bench across the road pointed to him. "Is fi him daughter. Bwoy it really sad. Di likkle nice girl just gone like dat," one of the women said.

With a slight smile, Prince explained that he didn't mind the whispering.

"It happens all the while these days. The community small, so everybody point and talk when they see me. It doesn't really bother me still, because at least they remember Samantha," he said.

The short man with slightly greying hair struggled to hold back tears when he recounted the events that led to his daughter's death.

"She and her little brother were outside and when the rain started to fall, they came inside the house through the kitchen door. When they reach inside the kitchen dem just hear a loud noise and see Samantha fall down. When her mother lift her up, dem see her head bleeding and her forehead mash up," he said.

The grief-stricken father took a second to clear his throat then continued.

"They lifted her up and tried to take her outside. They planned to take her to the hospital, but when they pulled the door the wind was too heavy, they couldn't even go through the door. So they were stuck with her inside the house with her head bleeding and couldn't do anything to help her. Her mother scream for help and when the wind ease a little, some men from next door come and help rush Samantha to hospital. By that it was too late though," he said.

Hard to accept

Prince was wearing a gold chain around his neck and kept rubbing it with his fingers as he spoke. His eyes were red and he kept blinking to prevent the tears from falling down his cheek.

He said he was finding it hard to accept that his daughter was killed inside her home. "It's not like she was even outside and something hit her in the breeze. She was inside her home and this happen. All now I can't believe it," he said.

Mr. Prince then walked away in silence. He was in a rush to finalise funeral arrangements for Samantha. Even as he hopped into a taxi just a few feet down the road, an elderly woman holding the hand of a teenaged girl whispered: "Is fi di likkle pickney daddy dat? Lawd have mercy, what a sinting."