Mother of slain teen dies days after his burial

Desrine Walker-Campbell, the mother of 19-year-old Ovando 'Tomar' Campbell, finally laid her son to rest on Sunday and was set to fly back to the United States on Thursday afternoon, but fate had other plans.

"Tomar bury Sunday, and she dead this morning (Thursday). Bwoy, mi nuh know. Mi haffi wait because the doctor dem say dem ago call me back tomorrow (Friday)," said Walker-Campbell's sister, struggling to process her sibling's death. "We are in shambles. We are lost for words, lost in this. This is just so sudden and heartbreaking. Just Sunday we bury her son." The cause of death has not yet been confirmed, but, according to her sister, Walker-Campbell did not show any signs of illness.

"She was supposed to go on a 1:30 flight back to Orlando," she added, distressed and confused. "Her foot dem just start swell up that was the only thing." Walker-Campbell was described as a devoted mother, known for her calm and kind nature. Family members and residents believe the stress of losing her son weighed heavily on her.

Ovando was shot and killed last November during an alleged confrontation with the police along Giltress Street in Rockfort, east Kingston. According to police reports at the time, he was among a group of men who opened gunfire on law enforcement officers, leading to a shootout. However, residents strongly refuted that claim, insisting that he was unarmed and was wrongfully killed. Following an investigation, several police officers were arrested in connection with his death. But while there was a measure of justice in that development, it is theorised that the toll of losing her son weighed heavily on Walker-Campbell.

"Me nuh know her that good, is the son me did know. And burying a child could never be easy, especially when a police kill him fi nothing," one resident shared.

"From November til now, you can imagine how she just want put him to rest? And she finally do it, and then she dead. The two a them never mek it to foreign," another community member lamented.