Caring father tragically taken from family

Demar Rowe left his home in Waterhouse, St Andrew, last Thursday to purchase a cake for his two-year-old daughter, whose birthday was a few days earlier.

However, Rowe never made it back. He was shot and killed only metres away from his home. Reports are that on May 27, about 11:52 a.m., Rowe was among a group of men on Balcombe Drive, St Andrew, when a motor car with several men approached. Occupants of the vehicle opened gunfire at the group, hitting Rowe. He was transported to the hospital where he was pronounced dead.

Another man, Noel Leff, 56, a shop owner who was injured in the shooting, succumbed to his injuries a few days after the incident. Rowe's grieving babymother, Kemeil Frew, who is now left to raise two girls, said he went above and beyond for his family.

"He love his kids, he doesn't even like when I talk to them hard. He doesn't slap them or anything like that," she cried. "If the girls say them want KFC him go get it, nothing never too good that he wouldn't get them." Rowe, who was a security guard employed to Quest Security Services, worked assiduously to provide for his family, according to Frew.

"There were nights that him don't sleep because he was doing double shift just to make money. At one point when he wasn't working, he even took up tiling because he just wanted to make sure we were well taken care of," she said. "The last comment he put up on Facebook is that he is working night and day for his family."

"My brother was a family man. He was always there for his kids. The only time he is not around them is when he is working," Demar's sister, Keishawna Rowe, 23, told THE STAR. Frew said that the daughters are curious about where their daddy is.

"The babies keep on asking for their father but at this point I can't answer them. When they see me crying, they are wiping my eyes and it pains so much. Just thinking about everything makes my heart so heavy," said Frew. The distraught family said coping with the passing has been a challenge. Keishawna believes Rowe was just "at the wrong place at the wrong time".

"Nobody tried to help him. Everybody was there videoing and my brother fighting for his life," said Keishawna. "It is so hard for us. It feels like we are in a dream right now. My brother was very quiet, him don't give trouble and he was the most caring person ever."