Mother leans on faith after daughter is gunned down

Louise 'Pumbles' Newland waited on her daughter Anique Walters to return to their Benbow Street home with a sundae on Sunday night, something they usually enjoy each weekend.

But minutes after 11 p.m., Newland received a call which eventually led to every mother's worst nightmare.

"The person say I should call my daughter's phone because she heard that the car that she was in got shoot up. I call my daughter phone but I did not get her, but when I call again, someone answer it and say I must come by the hospital. When I go to the hospital, I see the doctor bring her earrings to me and I asked if she dead and he said yes," Newland said.

According to police reports, Walters, 32, and an unidentified male companion drove up in a black motor car on Orange Street in the vicinity of Orange Villa, Kingston, when they were pounced upon by armed men who fired at them, hitting Walters in the upper part of her body. The man was shot in his leg.

As she sat in her yard, Newland, who is the People's National Party candidate for the Admiral Town division in the Kingston and St Andrew Municipal Corporation, said Walters was "a very very nice person".

"She was very loving and she was more than a daughter to me. She was my best friend and my everything. I got three children and now two of them gone left mi," she said. Newland said she last spoke to Walters about 7 p.m. to ask if she was getting her sundae.

"I asked if she want to use my car and she said no because she has a car already. I asked her if she wanted me to come and she say no, she going to buy it and bring it come and that was the last time I heard from her," she said.

Walters, who was employed as a security supervisor, is among four women who were killed in a 12-hour span within the Corporate Area and St Catherine. As she sat weeping among a group of supporters, Newland said she is relying on her faith to keep her strong.

"Everybody have a day and your day will come. The spot that dem leave mi in is only God alone going to help mi out. But by the help of God I am going to make it for her [Walters'] daughter and my only remaining child ... they will bring strength to mi. As a candidate, every time someone lose their loved ones, I would be here offering comfort, but I never know it was coming at my door," she said.

Member of Parliament for St Andrew South Eastern, Julian Robinson, who was among the supporters at Newland's yard, described the attacks on the women as 'bloody'.

"Crime is becoming closer and closer as Pumbles is a very beloved colleague of ours. We don't know the circumstances surrounding the murder, but it is just really tragic for any parent to lose their child in that way. It has been a very bloody 12 hours," Robinson said.

Head of the Kingston Central Police Division Superintendent Berisford Williams said a suspect is currently in custody in relation to the incident.

"The person was taken into custody following information arising from the description of the vehicle said to have been involved in the shooting. He was reportedly seen in that vehicle driving in a manner that would arose the suspicions of the police in Kingston East," he said.