AS CURFEW IMPOSED, SLAIN WOMAN’S MOM UNABLE TO MAKE SENSE OF IT
Amid swirling reports of planned reprisal killings in St Mary, police clamped a curfew on the Richmond area where two people were killed Thursday night, July 3, at a wake for a teacher murdered by her police boyfriend.
(Althea Dawkins, grieving mother of the woman slain at the candlelight ceremony)
The mother of the woman — one of two people — killed at the wake is trying to make sense of it, as people in nearby communities close to the center of the tragedy in Essex near Richmond have been left confused and in mourning and asking “why?”.Several reports to the North Coast Times indicate anger, too.
The 48-hour curfew took effect Friday evening at 6 and will remain in effect until 6:00 p.m. on Sunday, July 6. It restricts movement and is expected to heighten police activity in an area including Flint River, Essex, where the recent murders have ignited fear, confusion and calls for revenge.
(Scene at the home of Jonnay Graham for whom the candlelight ceremony was being held)
The normally peaceful area near Richmond was first shocked by the murder of 21-year-old assistant teacher Jonnay Damoya Dalia Graham, of Essex, on Wednesday night, June 25. Reports are that the couple quarreled and after shooting her dead, her lover, a policeman, shot himself in the head in an apparent suicide attempt. He remains in hospital under police guard.
Then on Thursday night, July 3, when dozens of people gathered at the candlelight for Graham, about 10:45, explosions were heard. People ran in all directions. It was later discovered that two of those in attendance had been shot. They were pronounced dead at hospital. DOUBLE MURDER AT WAKE FOR ST MARY TEACHER
(Tifanny Douse and Shaquille Harris, slain at the candlelight ceremony)
The two killed are Shaquille Harris, also known as “Shaq”, “Nick” or “Big Red”, an ex-soldier, and 23-year-old Tifanny Douse, also known as “Nikki”, both of Dunkeld, on the St Mary/St. Catherine border. Reports are that Harris was related to the policeman in the hospital.
Douse’s mother, Althea Dawkins, has been in mourning, unable to understand how her daughter with such a bright future is now dead. She says Tifanny, a final-year university student, had nothing to do with what is going on.
Like many in the communities nearby, she is grief-stricken and seeking answers.
The Major Investigation Division has taken over the probe into the crimes.
HERE IS A MOTHER IN GRIEF:
