'He should get more' - Survivors of deadly attack at Moncrieffe's Patio Shop disappointed that killer could be back on the road in 15 years
Published:Saturday | February 24, 2018 | 12:00 AMBrian Walker
The scars across 20-year-old Jadene Wilson's body are like magnets, attracting questions that force her to reflect on the March 24, 2017 bloody rampage at Moncrieffe's Patio Shop on Old Hope Road in St Andrew.
Justice Martin Gayle last Thursday sentenced her attacker, former colleague, 27-year-old Omar Graham, to a total of 50 years. Twenty years for the murder of his former boss, 76-year-old Barbara Moncrieffe, and 10 years for each of three counts of wounding with intent, which will run concurrently after the murder sentence.
Graham must serve 15 years to become eligible for parole, but for Wilson, the sentence is of little comfort, as her psychological wounds might never be healed.
"I'm still living in fear. I'm scared even being here (at Moncrieffe's Patio Shop) right now, because I think someone might want to hurt us because we are still alive. Someone might want to try something because I still don't know the reason why he did it," Wilson told The Sunday Gleaner less than 24 hours after the sentence was handed down.
"I still feel pain underneath my breast, and where my lung was punctured, I still feel pain now and then. I have to even stay home from work, because I can't get out of bed; that's not fair," said Wilson, who serves as the shop manager at Moncrieffe's.
Jenelle Roach was a new employee at the time of the incident and she is still trying to make sense of the ordeal.
She is thankful she did not have to relive the experience by testifying in court as Graham pleaded guilty on Sentence Reduction Day in October 2017.
"It's hard for me, right now I'm still traumatised, but I put everything in God's hands, He saved me for a purpose and for a reason. To me, 15 years before parole is not enough, he should get more," argued the 19-year-old Roach.
Angry over money
Graham transformed the shop into a crime scene when he chopped Mrs Moncrieffe to death. He proceeded to beat her husband and co-owner, Vassell, before attacking his co-workers Wilson and Roach with a hammer.
Graham said sorry before sentencing last week, and claimed that he was angry over money he was not paid by Mr Moncrieffe.
But last Friday, the 83-year-old Moncrieffe described that claim as "Bulls..." He told The Sunday Gleaner that having survived the attack, he is taking life one day at a time.
"I get a #@% lick inna me neck. I should be dead, you know, but there's a reason I'm alive. I forget and sometimes I come back," said Moncrieffe, as he hinted at disappointment with the sentence handed down to his wife's killer.
"It affects me, yes, in a way, in that I didn't expect him to go in that direction, but then again, I don't fight with the law, the law is the law," added Moncrieffe.