‘Mi nuh wah dead’ - Woman who feared death’s cost killed in Cherry Tree Lane massacre

As she scrolled through social media, Diamond Bennett came across a page advertising funeral arrangement costs, and showed it to a relative.

"She say, 'Yuh see how funeral dear? Mi nuh wah dead, enuh. Look how dem coffin ya expensive. Mi nuh want my family dem have to bury mi'," the relative related. In a cruel twist of fate, less than a week later, the 20-year-old Bennett was one of eight persons who was gunned down in Sunday night's bloodbath in Cherry Tree Lane, Four Paths, Clarendon. Although the pain was evident on the face of Bennett's mother, Marjorie Johnson, she welcomed the news team with a bright smile. However, seconds later, the tears flowed uncontrollably. She explained that her daughter had survived a serious car accident approximately a month ago but the angel of death had lingered around her.

"Diamond always say she want to go into teaching. Less than a month ago she meet into an accident where she suffered broken bones [and] a fractured spine. She had even done an interview at Ebony Park and they called her but she couldn't go because she was at the hospital," she said.

"They took my child from me. Oh my God, I can't even explain what I am feeling right now. What should I do now and where do I stand?" Johnson added as the tears flowed.

Johnson said she was at work when she got a call that something was wrong, but initially thought it was her son who had been shot, and she instantly began crying. Upon realising that it was her daughter, she rushed to the hospital while praying that the bullet wounds were not fatal.

"I keep getting phone calls and persons were screaming and then I heard that Diamond got shot. I told my boss I had to leave and I went straight to the hospital. Diamond was in emergency room so I couldn't see her. I prayed with everything that I had that she was going to be okay. Afterwards the doctor came out and called me and she told me that Diamond dead. I asked her what she said and the doctor told me she tried her best but they couldn't save her," Johnson said.

She described her daughter as a fun-loving individual who stayed far from contention and was well-mannered.

"Diamond is a nice and jovial person. There is no word to explain right now. I last saw her Saturday night. I was supposed to go to a party and I asked her if she have drive and she said no, so I told her I was going to bed. She don't live with me. That was the last time I talk to her. Diamond never give mi any trouble at all," Johnson said.