Mother of three killed in Cassava Piece mass shooting

In what was reminiscent of a scene from Final Destination, an unfortunate chain of events unfolded on Wednesday night, leading to the tragic death of 33-year-old Kelly-ann Smikle.

Smikle was one of six persons injured in a mass shooting in Cassava Piece, St Andrew. But, as she was being taken to hospital, the vehicle in which she was being transported was involved in a crash. Smikle eventually made it to hospital but died. On Thursday, as the family gathered at the site where she was shot, a sombre silence filled the air, broken only by the playful laughter of her children, who may not have grasped that they will never see their mother again.

The incident occurred around 7:34 p.m. when patrons were at a bar playing dominoes when a drive-by shooting disrupted the game. Smikle's mother, Jem, is still grappling with the reality that her daughter's warm, infectious smile will no longer greet her.

"She was a nice, loving girl, and she always a run joke and a smile," Jem said through tears. She recalled the hard-working and determined person Smikle was.

"She go pon site, she work inna bar, she walk and sell clothes just fi mind her pickney dem. Any work weh come to her, she do it." Smikle leaves behind three children, ages 10, seven, and six.

"The 10-year-old, him can't keep up. Him a break down. I didn't want him to know yet," Jem said.

She shared that Smikle had been working tirelessly for weeks in preparation for a cake sale planned for October 25.

"The money she get, she say she not even a touch it because it's to put towards the cake sale and then she would turn it to buy things to start back her selling." Smikle was selling perfume and body spray, determined to provide for her children.

Born and raised in Cassava Piece, Smikle briefly moved to Spanish Town, St Catherine, where she met the father of her children. Returning to her childhood home, she built a life for her family. However, Wednesday's events snuffed out her light.

"A right here so she sit down last night and them a play dominoes. When them a play, she would draw one little less and she woulda make up that fi the pickney dem lunch money for the next morning. So them a gamble and them [gunmen] come shoot up everybody. I don't know who dem did see a play domino weh dem did want and just a leggo it," Jem said. She said that her spouse was among those injured and is now in a coma.

"Only one come out, Kerry died, and the next four deh down deh," Jem lamented. The shooting has shattered the sense of safety in Cassava Piece.

"More than 20 year mi deh yah so and this never happen. Mi nuh know how mi ago manage because this is my little hustling," she shared, adding that the shooting has sent shockwaves through the community.

Smikle's sister, Shell-ann, is heartbroken.

"On her way a go to the hospital after she get shot, car crash with her. Wicked crash down deh so," she pointed, showing how close the accident occurred to the shooting site. "We think say she deh a hospital until mi get a call say mi sister crash." She said that the family had to take matters into their own hands to carry her to hospital.

"Wi haffi lift her out [of the vehicle] because mi cousin decide say him a put her in a the car," she said.

Now, with Smikle gone, Shell-ann is deeply concerned about the future of her sister's children.

"Aunty and grandma have them still," she said. Despite Smikle's struggles, Shell-ann remembers her as someone with a deep love for her children and faith in God.

"She always make some oath and tell me fi take care of her children. But mi a trust the process and mi a trust God," she said.