Young mother’s only child killed in drive-by

The anguished cries of 24-year-old Tatiyana Samuels-Powell carried the pain of a mother shattered by the loss of her only child.

Two-year-old Tajuan Jackson was gunned down in Grenmeade Road, Maverley, St Andrew, on Monday night.

"Why dem take my only baby from me? He must have been so scared. God, why yuh never take me instead? Am I not a good mother? Am I a bad mother?" she wept, her words tumbling out in disbelief. Samuels-Powell said she had been visiting relatives and was seated under a tree with her son when the attack unfolded.

"One minute mi holding him, and the next him gone," she told THE STAR. "This is too much. I just want my baby. Oh gosh man, you know my pain. God, my belly bottom is so heavy. Them say mi nuffi question yuh... show me a sign!"

Relatives described Tajuan as a playful toddler who was the light of his mother's life. The gunfire also claimed the life of 25-year-old Kimarley 'Beans' Powell, a business operator of Grenmeade Road. Another man was injured and remains in the hospital in stable condition.

Residents said a group of persons were lyming when a car arrived shortly after 7 p.m. The vehicle paused, its windows rolled down, and gunmen sprayed the crowd with bullets before speeding off. Residents pointed to the bloodstains that still marked the ground near the bench where the group had gathered. Bullet holes scarred the walls, a grim reminder of the night's horror. A close relative of Powell said she was inside her house when the shots rang out.

"When mi hear the shots and run out, mi nuh see him... a just di baby a bleed pan di floor," she recalled. Moments later, a wounded man gasped, "Mummy, look over deh so." She rushed to the yard where Powell had collapsed.

"When we find him, him still a breathe heavy, eye dem open, but him never a talk. We rush him to hospital, but by the time we reach, him dead," she said, her voice breaking.

The relative said her blood pressure has since skyrocketed.

"This shake mi up bad. Me have him from him inna belly. Mi nuh know how fi cope." As she replayed the tragedy, she wondered if the killers even knew who they were targeting.

"Dem cold and wicked... a two-year-old baby nuh change yuh mind? Not even the baby dem safe," she said.

"Every day mi hear dem seh crime gone dung. It nuh gone dung. It a happen right before we eyes. What we see different from weh dem a report," she added. She also said that Grenmeade has long been targeted by outsiders.

Another neighbour, refusing to leave her yard, said fear has gripped the lane.

"The pickney dem frighten, dem nuh wah leave di house this morning fi go school. A baby dead, so wah fi stop it from reach we pickney too?" she asked.

Grenmeade forms part of Maverley, a community in the St Andrew South Police Division, that has long struggled with sporadic bursts of violence tied to tensions between 'Top' and 'Bottom' Maverley. According to the police, the last major shooting in the area happened in February, marking six months of relative calm. That quiet had been credited to joint police operations and community interventions, but for residents, official claims of peace have never matched the daily reality of fear.

Senior Superintendent Damien Mandison, head of the division, admitted the attack has undone months of progress.

"This is one incident too many," he said. "Children should be able to play in front of their gates without fear of being brutally murdered." He named Courtney 'Bloodstain' Ashley, also known as 'Evil', 'Alien', and 'Biggs', as someone who could assist the police.

"He might claim innocence, but the justice system will decide that. We believe he can help us with these ongoing incidents. Two-year-old Tajuan's life should not go in vain," Mandison said. "We are appealing to Jamaica, do not stand by and watch this. Work with us to restore peace."