PM blasts ‘low-life beasts’ who murdered 14-y-o

May 07, 2025
Holness.
Holness.
Terona Thomas
Terona Thomas
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For years, the corner where 14-year-old Terona Thomas was shot and killed has been cloaked in darkness. Now, a surveillance camera stands watch at the nearby stoplight -- just across from the Olympic Gardens Police Station in St Andrew, and only minutes from her home.

For her grieving mother, Orthia Watson, the camera offers a small but meaningful sense of hope.

"Yuh see the corner weh the incident happen? The whole a round deh so dark," she said. "We want light, and mi want justice fi mi daughter."

Two weeks ago, on April 17, Thomas , a Pembroke Hall High second former, lost her life in a drive-by shooting on Hill Avenue, mere steps from her front gate. According to the police, around 1:50 p.m., Thomas was among a group of people gathered on Hill Avenue when gunmen travelling in a motor car opened fire, injuring her and two men. The victims were taken to hospital where the teen died.

Thomas had asked her mother for money to buy boiled crab from a vendor nearby. Watson handed her daughter the cash, unaware it would be the last time she saw her alive.

"Mi never know a di last time mi woulda see har walk out," Watson whispered.

Yesterday, the Government officially commissioned 51 new surveillance cameras in Olympic Gardens under the JamaicaEye programme. The area falls in the constituency of St Andrew West Central, where Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness is the member of parliament.

For Watson, the commissioning of the surveillance system is a positive step in the fight against crime.

"Mi leave everything inna God hand and in the police dem hand," she told THE STAR, her eyes red from sleepless nights.

"Mi caah go inna di room. A me and she used to sleep deh. Mi affi ask people fi get mi clothes. Mi just caah face it."

Despite her heartbreak, she acknowledged the police's efforts in the aftermath and expressed gratitude for public support with the funeral expenses. Still, the trauma lingers.

"Mi nuh fraid a nuh gunman eno," she said. "Mi just fraid... because she dead."

Meanwhile, Holness, who spoke at the commissioning of the Olympic Way JamaicaEye control centre, described Thomas'c killers as "low-life beasts". He announced a $2 million reward for information leading to the arrest of her killers.

"Just a few weeks ago, there was a drive-by shooting in one of the off-roads, where a 14-year-old Jamaican girl who could be a lawyer, doctor, teacher... Moments before, she asked her mother for some money to go to the shop. No expectation that some low-life beast would come and claim her life," Holness said.

Watson is still struggling to adjust to life without her youngest child.

"Mi really hope dem find who do it... because she just 14," she said. "Mi just caah understand," she said.

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