‘They took my son from me’ - Grieving mom wants death penalty for son’s killers

A heartbroken mother is demanding the death penalty for the killers of her 16-year-old son, Niquan Whitely, and his 14-year-old friend, Jumaane Henry, who were murdered by gunmen in Airy Castle, Stony Hill, St Andrew, last Thursday.

"The police say they are investigating, but I have no faith that my son's killers will be caught. If they are, I don't think it's fair for me, a taxpayer, to feed the killer of my son," Sasha Blake, Whitely mother, said yesterday.

With deep pain and anguish in her voice, she called murders to be sent to the gallows and be made to hang by the neck until dead.

"Where is the death penalty? My son and a 14-year-old boy were murdered, and I don't see the outrage," Blake said.

According to police reports, around 11:15 p.m. on Thursday, residents heard explosions in Airy Castle. When the police arrived, they found both boys lying face down, shot in the upper body. They were rushed to the hospital but were both pronounced dead.

Blake wants to meet with her son's killers.

"I just want them to apprehend somebody so I can ask them if they know what they did when they took my son away from me. They left me for dead. They left me to mad," she said.

Struggling to cope with the loss of her son, who she said was well-mannered and reserved, Blake said he was a talented footballer, who represented Meadowbrook High School and competed in the Manning Cup.

""He has been playing for Meadowbrook since he was awarded a place there. I can't process his death. He had so much plans for his life," she said.

Blake said her son and his friend were at a wake near their home when tragedy struck. She recalled receiving a telephone call that night from one of Whitelys friends, saying he had been shot.

"I thought it was a prank, but when I ran outside, they told me he was down the road. I took off up the road, and my spouse ran to alert the other boy's mother," she said.

Blake hoped her son might survive when police initially told her Whitely was still alive, but the hope was shattered when she later learned he didn't pull through.

"To this day, I haven't been to the scene where my son was killed," she said.

Having grown up in the tough inner city community of Arnett Gardens, St Andrew, Blake said she moved to the laid-back community of Airy Castle, only to lose her son in the most tragic way.

"I have seen first-hand what crime does, especially to young boys, and I work hard and moved to a community that I thought would be safe for my children, and for my son to end up losing his life in a tragic way, it don't sit well with me," Blake said, expressing outrage at the crime.

A curfew was imposed in the area after the murders, but Blake wants more to be done.

"I need the minister of security to address this because you are sleeping in parliament and you are saying murders are trending down, but yet still two boys were killed in the most horrific way. I am not just lamenting for my son but I am lamenting the fact that the 14-year-old life has been senselessly lost as well," Blake said.

As she grieves for her son, Blake is also mourning and making final preparations for mother Novelette Smith who passed away a few weeks ago.

"I tell them I am not keeping any funeral or doing any nine nights because for me doing that will be me accepting that my son is dead and I will not accept it. If it was up to me I would take my son and I would put him in his bed and keep him for life," Blake said, her grief overwhelming.

"I am going to bury my mother and after I do that, that is it. I am not going to my son's funeral as I am not suppose to be planning a funeral for my 16-year-old. I have to be taking medicine at nights to sleep," she said.