SHOCKING! - Grandmother of woman who faked her kidnapping said she was properly raised

The grandmother of Shameka Miller, the St Andrew woman who was arrested and charged on Tuesday for faking her kidnapping, said she feels embarrassed by her actions.

Miller, 27, was charged with extortion and creating public mischief by investigators at the Counter Terrorism and Organised Crime Branch (CTOC). She reportedly conspired with accomplices on Monday to state she was kidnapped and that her holders were demanding $1 million ransom. She also allegedly sent videos to her family with a man pointing a gun at her.

The former customer service representative later stated that she was released on Spanish Town Road when the demands were not met. She was arrested and charged after investigations proved her claims were false.

Miller's grandmother, Una Campbell, 64, told THE WEEKEND STAR that not only was the family embarrassed, they were also surprised.

"How yuh fi wah money weh wi never have? Wi deh yah want a better place to live weh wi can't afford. A weh di money would a come from?" the bemused senior citizen said at her home in Seaview Gardens. "Mi no know if she get threatened, because a no like she say she in need more than nobody else or she hungry or anything. She is a working-class person, always a work, always have her own. Mi no know a wah could a cause this."

Campbell said that she helped to raise Miller, who has a five-year-old son, and her other 11 grandchildren, to have strong social values.

"Mi teach her the principles weh my mother teach me, yuh fi be honest and have principle and so on. Yuh no fi bear any false witness against anybody, work hard for what you want," she said. "A pickney weh grow up inna love, go a church and every likkle thing. Then yuh go wait till 27 years fi do all a this?"

Campbell, who has diabetes and high blood pressure, said she would love to ask Miller why she did this.

"Mi nuh expect this from her. When wi first hear, everybody start bawl, cause wi fraid say dem a go kill her. Then the likkle baby start bawl say 'mi wah mi mada'. Bwoy it look like she never did a think 'bout her family. Mi no know weh else fi say 'cause if yuh did a think bout yuh family, yuh wouldn't do this," Campbell said.

According to Assistant Commissioner of Police Anthony McLaughlin, the head of CTOC, "the investigations were ongoing" as lawmen seek Miller's accomplices. Though she is angry, Campbell said that she was hoping for the best for her granddaughter.

"Dis mawnin [Thursday] when mi see the news, mi bawl out 'Mighty God', and me start pray to Father God fi keep her safe. Mi start beg Father God fi cover her because him a me only protector," she said.