Anguish as gunmen leave toddler fatherless

"Daddy, can you buy a toy for me? Mi love yuh. Mi love you so much. I love you dad," are the words Nicholas Lodge's three-year-old daughter left in a voicenote for him on his cell phone, anticipating his return so they can enjoy daddy-daughter time.

But Lodge, 29, will never respond as he was gunned down on May 31 by unknown assailants along Waltham Park Road. No motive has been established for the killing. Lodge's spouse Abigail said he and their daughter usually conversed by phone.

"She went in my phone and began listening back some voicenotes that he had sent her, so she thinks that she is speaking with him. So that's how she sent him back the voicenote. The Wednesday she had packed her bag because he was supposed to pick her up the Friday, but he died the Wednesday. She is expecting daddy to come for her. The last time he spoke to her he told her he was going to get some rest so she thought that he is still sleeping," she said. She described Lodge as a dedicated father and partner and said their daughter always wanted to be around him.

"It was daddy for her. She would mark up the entire wall and then he would tell me to let her stay and that she is exploring. Then he would sit down and clean up back everything that she do. It is always daddy for her so she is still waiting to see him," she said.

At Lodge's funeral on Sunday, Abigail said that when the toddler saw her dad in the casket, she asked what he was doing.

"One of my relatives respond to her and told her that daddy is sleeping. She said 'OK, so that is daddy new room now'. When it was time for him to go down in the grave, she was telling him to wake up and don't go down there and that broke my heart," she said. Abigail said she was at work when she got the call about Lodge.

"It was unbelievable so I told the person who called me that it wasn't true. I hung up the phone and I tried to reach home to my aunt and I wasn't getting to her, so I finished my shift, because at the time I was in denial. When mi reach home, mi ask mi auntie and everybody confirm with mi. I saw a picture of him laying on the ground and I can't describe the pain I felt," she said. A heartbroken Abigail, who was with Lodge for six years, has not been able to sleep since.

"As I close my eyes, I see him. I can't even sleep in the house where we lived together because it is hard," she said. "He was a very caring person. He was a motivator and even if he knew he wouldn't do something, he would motivate you to do it once it's something positive. He was very helpful even if it wasn't beneficial to him. He will drop everything to help those he love."

"He never missed any special moments ever for us. He was always there. Him always want his daughter to travel overseas and experience the life he didn't have. We always had trips together because he liked to take vacations," Abigail added.