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Flames that engulfed a car that was set on fire at the intersection of Waltham Park and Hagley Park roads in St Andrew have died down.

The protesting residents of Cockburn Gardens, though still bitter, have returned to their places of abode, and the strong detachment of police and soldiers who were on the streets have now gone elsewhere.

Last Friday it was a different story. People were irate about the killing of Jermaine 'Shawn' Ferguson, allegedly by lawmen, and they raised their voices in the way they are most likely to get attention - a fiery protest.

Enraged residents flung barrels, stones, iron, and old appliances on to the main road.

Samaroo Green, Ferguson's common-law wife, does not want his case to be forgotten. She said that he was an excellent father and did not deserve to die the way he did.

"It's hard for me to cope because I know my babyfather is innocent, and I just want justice to be served," Green, 32, told THE STAR. "I haven't eaten anything from Friday. I still can''t believe I lost such a caring and loving person."

The police are contending that Ferguson was killed during a confrontation with cops. According to the Corporate Communications Unit of the Jamaica Constabulary Force, about 8:10 a.m. members of a police team were involved in a confrontation with a group of men at York Avenue, Kingston 11, during which Ferguson was shot. A Ruger semi-automatic pistol with 10 rounds of ammunition was seized in the incident.

Ferguson's fatal shooting has fuelled protests by residents demanding that justice be served. Two marked police vehicles were damaged, a motorist injured and roadblocks mounted in the area.

Green, like other community members, is adamant that Ferguson should not become another inner-city shooting statistic.

A cruel act

"We need justice, there is a lot of cover-up done to other murders in the ghetto but for Jermaine, he didn't deserve such a cruel act like that and so we need that peace. He is such a good person inside out, and I honour him so for his memory to live on. All we need is justice," Green told THE STAR

"His daughter is saying she is gonna make a new daddy because I told her that the police killed her dad. She is seeing his phone and not him. He was great dad, more like a mother and a father. He works like a woman in the home. He makes me breakfast in bed when I was in the hospital and he would wash my clothes. I just miss him so much," Green said.

Ferguson's death comes in the midst of protests across the world against the brutal death of George Floyd, who died at the hands of cops in the US. Chauntell Bryan, Ferguson's niece, told THE STAR that it feels surreal that her cry for Floyd has now grown into a screams and horror for her 32-year-old relative.

"When George Floyd was killed I was saying I can't imagine what his family must be going through right now. I was even helping to protest and now this same thing come happen in my family," she said. "Trust me, you never fully understand what persons are going through until it hits home."

She expressed that the family is having a hard time coming to terms with Ferguson's death, as he is known among them to be a good person.

"His mother fainted because she isn't taking it so well. It has just been a lot. Everybody know Shawn as a good person so he doesn't deserve a death like that," Bryan said. "He was very respectful and accept if you tell him that he is wrong, and him love him family, trust me."