A mom’s worst nightmare - East Kingston mother mourns teen son after deadly clash with cops

Kadian Morgan was overwhelmed with grief as she leaned against a wall outside her gate on Jackson Lane, East Kingston, yesterday, tears streaming down her face. Her 19-year-old son, Kayshan 'Bem Bem' Smith, was lying in the morgue after being killed during what the police said was a shoot-out in the area.

Just a day earlier, Morgan felt she was in a dark. A mother's intuition said that something terrible was about to happen. She prayed for her family's safety, and even sat down with Bem Bem -- a father of one -- and urged him to avoid bad company.

Less than 24 hours later, her son, along with two other teenagers, was fatally shot by members of the security forces along Windward Road in East Kingston.

"From inna di day mi a warn him. Mi see it inna mi self say somebody a guh dead and mi tell him," Morgan cried, her voice breaking.

"Mi never know seh dis woulda happen. Mi tell him say, 'Bem Bem, just listen because yuh madda a nuh idiot.' Mi feel it inna mi spirit," she said.

The mother of three said she normally requires her son to be in the house by 9 p.m., but there was something different about Saturday. She fell asleep earlier than usual. Sunday morning, Morgan awoke to find Bem Bem bed empty. Panicked, she asked around but was stopped from searching herself by her partner, who gently broke the news she had feared.

"Him say summen happen, enuh, but mi nuh wah say nutten to yuh because we nuh sure yet," she recalled, barely able to speak.

The police said that around 1:30 a.m. Sunday, a police team patrolling Windward Road encountered gunfire. They responded, and when the exchange ended, three young men laid wounded. They were taken to Kingston Public Hospital where all three were pronounced dead. Two illegal firearms were reportedly recovered at the scene.

Morgan's heart shattered as she questioned her son's choices, her voice trembling with a mother's love and anguish. She wasn't sure if he had been involved in any wrongdoing but admitted he didn't always keep the best company. She recalled her struggles raising her three children alone, hoping that the gift of a small property on Jackson Lane from a kind stranger would bring a better life.

"A yesterday mi see Bem Bem, everything a guh alright. Just gwan keep yuh little work and save because yuh have a son. Him tell mi seh him a save fi buy two pigs," she said.

"Mi say, 'Bem Bem, keep away from company.' Mi nuh keep company suh because a dat people say mi can't tame. Mi nuh ramp fi walk and look for him, and sometimes people seh mi mad and all video mi, but mi never want dis happen to mi son. All when people a tell mi say dem a adult, mi never business, mi would walk and look for him same way."