Devastated!

EIGHTEEN-YEAR-OLD JEDINE Carr was in great spirits as she left her mother to participate in her final training session for Sunday’s scheduled football match.

She was bristling with confidence as she prepared her famous number-13 jersey, a number she cherishes in all her starts as a national junior football player, putting it aside in anticipation of the game she promised her entire family she would give an exceptional performance in.

As Carr boarded the taxi to take her to the training ground, she was oblivious of the evil that lurked. Though that evil was not specifically aimed at her, she was in the wrong car at the wrong time.

Carr would become victim to a level of viciousness that has shocked an entire community.

According to the police account, explosions were heard coming from the route taxi in which two unidentified men, posing as passengers, were sitting on the back seat. Carr was seated on the front passenger seat.

It was further reported that the car lost control and collided with a grey Toyota Corolla motor car, hit a utility pole and then ended up in a gully.

The two men reportedly alighted from the vehicle and more loud explosions followed as they made good their escape.

Carr was transported to the Kingston Public Hospital by family members with what appeared to be a stab and a gunshot wound. She died while undergoing treatment, while the taxi driver, who police identified as Andrew Mullings from Newlands district in Yallahs was pronounced dead at the Princess Margaret Hospital. He was shot multiple times.

It was a gloomy atmosphere in Heartease district on Saturday when The Gleaner visited the community, as family members and friends gathered at Carr’s home, largely in a state of disbelief, unable to comprehend why anyone would want to end the life of their homegrown star.

A tearful Roxene Campbell Carr, mother of Jedine Carr, who lost her eldest daughter last June to sickness, was very emotional as she spoke about what she felt when she heard the news.

UNEXPLAINABLE FEELING

“I don’t even know how to tell you how I feel. From I got the news earlier in the day that she met in an accident, I was jumping and shouting like I am getting crazy,” she told The Gleaner.

Campbell Carr said her last encounter with her daughter was hours before tragedy struck. They were having fun in Kingston when she took her to get a COVID test done.

“She didn’t carry her training gear with her and training was 2:30. So mi and her travel from Kingston, run we joke, and then she said ‘Mommy, I am going away and I am the one who is going to help you’, and mi drop her off,” she recollected.

Campbell Carr said her deceased daughter was excited about playing in Sunday’s football match, to the point where she insisted that the entire family turn out to cheer her on.

According to Campbell Carr, Jedine had high hopes of becoming a great player and was in the process of finalising a scholarship to play overseas.

“To how mi feel, they take her away from us. They take our superstar,” she said, before breaking into a bout of uncontrolled sobbing.

“Dem mash me up. Yes, dem mash mi up. I just bury one last year. She died on a Friday just like Jedine, this is too much for me. She said to me on Friday, ‘Mommy, we are going to tour the world’,” said the distraught Campbell Carr, adding that now her dreams were dashed.

Jedine’s sister, Jodine Carr, in an emotional outburst, said her death doesn’t sit well with her and she will find out who took her life.

“I am going to find out who killed my sister, because this doesn’t sit well with none of us,” she said.

She theorised that Jedine knew the killers and that could be the reason they took her life.

Childhood friend Shanna-Lee Mcleish, who attended both primary and high school with Jedine, described her as a strong, gifted person.

“Jedine loves sports from she was in primary school. She was a leader that we all looked up to. They could have let her get off the taxi before they carry out their vicious act. It can never be the same without her,” Shanna-Lee told The Gleaner.