The Tribune

By NICO SCAVELLA

Tribune Staff Reporter

nscavella@tribunemedia.net

A WOMAN yesterday described how she had to seek professional help to get over seeing blood oozing out of a man's ears "like water" moments after his body was sprayed with bullets during the 2013 Fox Hill mass shooting.

Euphemia Davis said she had to undergo counselling to overcome the trauma of witnessing Eric "Bonafide" Morrison's body twisting and twitching after being hit by bullets fired by gunmen in December 2013.

Ms Davis said she also needed counselling to get over seeing one of her brothers, Claudezino "Zino" Davis, killed right next to her, and another brother, Chino Davis, shot in the face from the gunfire.

So traumatic was the experience at Freedom Park, Ms Davis said, that if someone slams their hand too hard on a table, she ducks for cover out of fear.

"…That is do something to me," she lamented, as she said the events of that day play in her mind every night.

"You could imagine seeing people blood coming out of their ears? You could imagine seeing the two of your brothers getting shot in the front of you? I never see that. That's the first time in my life I ever see that."

Ms Davis' testimony came during Peter Rolle's, Jermaine Curry's and Justin Williams' trial concerning the December 27, 2013 shooting at Freedom Park before Justice Deborah Fraser.

Williams, Rolle and Curry are accused of murdering four people - Claudezino Davis, Shaquille Demeritte, Eric Morrison and Shenique Sands on that date. They are also charged with attempting to murder Janet Davis, Samuel Ferguson, Chino Davis, John Davis, Jermaine Pratt and Leroy Taylor.

According to reports, around 6pm, occupants of a small, dark vehicle opened fire in the area just behind the basketball court where several people were gathered.

Davis was pronounced dead on the scene while 10 others were taken to hospital. Demeritte, Morrison and Sands later died in hospital of their injuries.

Taking the witness stand yesterday, Ms Davis said on the date in question she and her siblings, namely Claudezino, Chino, and Erskilla Davis, went to Freedom Park to hear the announcement of that year's Boxing Day Junkanoo results. She said they were all seated on a wall in front or opposite a Junkanoo shack in the area.

Ms Davis said she was having a conversation with one of her brothers about their mother, when they all "went back" and fell behind the wall.

Ms Davis said when her siblings went back over the wall, she glimpsed three people, seated in the windows of a car, shooting at the crowd on the park. At some point upon seeing them, Ms Davis said she heard when one of them said, "Shoots the gun jam!"

Ms Davis said the shooters weren't firing in any particular direction, but were firing indiscriminately.

"They was not firing in any particular direction. All they was doing was just, bam, bam," she said.

"…They just was shooting random. They wasn't actually shooting at somebody, they just was shooting."

Ms Davis said she heard people screaming, and when she looked up she saw Morrison's body twitching as the bullets sprayed his body. Then, when she got up, she saw Chino Davis holding his face, as he had gotten shot. Then, she said she checked Claudezino Davis' pulse and heartbeat, but the man had none.

Ms Davis said she told Chino Davis that their brother was dead. Afterwards, she said she saw when Morrison fell to the ground, with "blood coming out his ears like water". Morrison, she said, had only come to the park that day to pick up a man by the name of Don Brice who was wheelchair-bound.

Ms Davis said after the incident, she called her brother's wife, who was in the States, as well as her mother who was in the US as well, and told them that both Claudezino Davis and Ms Sands had died, and that Chino Davis had gotten shot.

While being cross examined by Rolle's attorney Sonia Timothy, Ms Davis said she saw three shooters, all of whom were seated in the car's windows and who had dark complexions. However, she said she could not recognise any of the shooters.

In response to one of Ms Timothy's questions, Ms Davis revealed that another man, Danny Ferguson, was on the park that night. She said Mr Ferguson, a resident of Fox Hill, is someone she grew up with whom she knows from being on the park.

Mr Ferguson, Ms Davis said, was on his phone that night. At some point, Ms Davis said Mr Ferguson came off his phone and moved from where she and the others were over to the Junkanoo shack. Shortly after he did that, about 15 to 20 minutes later, the shooting started.

As a result, she said she told police that they should check Mr Ferguson's phone. She said she felt that providing the police with that information would better assist them in solving the investigation.

Additionally, Ms Davis' cross examination revealed that her cousin's son, whom she calls her nephew because he calls her his aunt, was also on the park that night and seated on the bleachers. Ms Davis said her 'nephew' told her that he saw the shooter, and that the shooter was a person named "David".

Ms Davis said she knew "David", but does not know his last name. She said she does not know his age, but said he appears to be younger than her. During further interrogation by Williams' attorney Geoffrey Farquharson, Ms Davis confirmed that she told police that the person her 'nephew' saw was "Davis".

Mr Farquharson, while cross-examining Ms Davis, suggested the woman was seeking to mislead the jury because she gave a "different story" in court than the one she told police around the time of the incident in question.

That incensed Ms Davis, who said she had no reason to lie and accused Mr Farquharson of trying to intimidate her. She further told Mr Farquharson: "If you was on that park that day you would feel just how I feeling right now."

Ms Davis then passionately asserted that she is tired of revisiting the events of the date in question, and further complained that constantly having to revisit the matter will likely send her crazy.

Mr Farquharson then showed Ms Davis one of the photographs captured by crime scene investigators of the scene in Fox Hill. That photograph captured the Junkanoo shack of the Original Congos, according to Mr Farquharson.

On the side of that shack, Mr Farquharson said, is some graffiti that reads: "RIP Spy and Limbo. Real Gs".

Ms Davis, in response to a question by the attorney, said she knew both "Limbo" and "Spy". However, she said she doesn't know if "David" is related to any or both of those two individuals. Nonetheless, she said she knew "David" from the park.

The matter continues.