'Forgive them Father' - Family and Friends say goodbye to Khyhymn Campbell

Mandeville, Manchester:

"Is that really my daughter? Is that you Khyhymn lying in there? Something must have gone wrong for the beast to kill you. You are too smart to go like this," says Dr Amos Campbell, father of the 25-year-old woman who met a gruesome end at the hands of a man who later committed suicide.

Campbell's words echoed across the small church and touched every beating heart present, even as he tried to come to grips with the fact that he will have to commit his daughter's body to the ground.

"God is the source of life. He is the sustainer, but He is also the snatcher, and the snatcher because Job says 'He gives and He taketh away, blessed be the name of the Lord' ... I know my redeemer lives," the clergyman added.

The True Holiness Vine Ministries was packed to capacity on Sunday, September 30 as family members, friends, and even those who have no association with the family, came to pay their last respects to Khyhymn Campbell.

Khyhymn, who touched everybody's life with her beautiful singing, endearing personality and infectious smile, had her life snuffed out on August 28 and her body found in an igloo in a motor car along Marshall's Pen Road in Manchester by the police.

"Father, forgive them for they know not what they do. All those persons who were misguided and ran with information they heard. Father, forgive them," said Campbell as he sought peace following the horrific crime and subsequent rumours that his daughter may have been involved with the suspect, 54-year-old Linton Stephenson.

KHYHYMN HAILED AS VERY DETERMINED

Former classmates of Khyhymn Campbell, a straight 'A' student, whose alma mater was Bishop Gibson, remembered their friend as the life of the group.

"For the last few years I have been asking where Khyhymn is and I never expected to come and see her like this. She was a go-getter, very determined, with the most beautiful smile," a former classmate said.

President of the Battersea and Clarks Town Police Youth Club, Alicea Higgins, urged young people to be alert. "We all feel it. As young people, we need to be careful. We need to serve the Lord because our lives can be taken at any time ... . It is never easy for parents to bury their child and only God can comfort them at this time."

The thanksgiving service was also attended by members from the Seventh-Day Adventist Church, students of the Northern Caribbean University, The Regent Bible College of the Caribbean, and the Hampton School.