One-year-old battling for life, father shot dead

Soothing to soft music in the aftermath of losing a son and her one-year-old granddaughter battling for life, a Central Kingston matriarch says she is leaving everything in the hands of God.

The woman, whose identity The Gleaner will withhold, was awakened by loud explosions about 1:30 a.m. yesterday when gunmen entered their 35 Harbour Street residence then shot and killed 22-year-old Anthony ‘Ants Man’ Campbell and injured his daughter.

When our news team visited the location, Campbell’s mother who was being consoled by close friends and family appeared calm and said her fate was with God.

She said everyone will have to die but lamented the manner in which her son was murdered, noting that if he did not use his body as a human shield, more lives could have been lost.

“Mi nah go mek it break mi down because it is a must. Mi coulda drop out, drop down and dead but a how him dead. But mi still nah mek it pull mi down, God a di greatest. Father God mi say, not mankind.”

Campbell was described as a jovial person and spent his Christmas painting inside his home.

Granddaughter shaken

The mother of six told The Gleaner that she now has four living children.

Her granddaughter, she said, appeared to be shaken and called out for her father after the ordeal.

“The shot fly through her leg, one shot went through her buttocks and rest on her groin area and she got another shot in her leg. The doctors a watch her because they want to operate on her but they are watching for any swelling in her stomach,” the grandmother told The Gleaner.

The child’s mother and another sibling were inside the room; however, they escaped injuries.

“Dem brace off the door and stand up at the door and fire inside. A di mercy of God mek the mother nuh get shot. She cover the son and him a try cover fi him daughter. Him get it and the daughter pick up two,” the grandmother said.

The grandmother said the community is divided by gang war and members of her household would normally close the main gate to the yard at night.

Dedicated to his daughter

Campbell’s mother said her son was unemployed at the time of his death but dedicated himself to his daughter where she saw the changes after the little girl was born.

“The other day, she was sick and him jus a cry a go weh suh because he thought she was gonna admit but she come on. Mi tell him say a dem deh pain deh mi use to feel when unuh sick”, she said.

The Corporate Communications Unit (CCU) confirmed the reports and said the murder and shooting incident is being probed by the Kingston Central police.

The police division has seen increases in both murders and shootings with gang violence being the contributing factor.

Up to Christmas Day, 73 murders were recorded in the division, an increase of 22 per cent, up from 51 the previous year.

Shootings increased by 18.6 per cent year-on-year to 70 in 2021 moving from 59 in the corresponding period in 2020.

The overall murder count is 1,439, a 10 per cent increase year-on-year.