The Tribune

By EARYEL BOWLEG

Tribune Staff Reporter

ebowleg@tribunemedia.net

THE Ministry of Works and the management of the Church Street Plaza have denied responsibility for removing a roadside memorial honouring five young people killed in the Shirley Street traffic tragedy.

A ministry spokesman said no official had been authorised to remove the memorial and confirmed that the site is on private property.

Eyewitness News Digital reported that the management of Church Street Plaza, the business complex in front of the site, also denied removing it. The Tribune was unable to determine who ordered or carried out the removal.The memorial honoured Keno Gordon Jr, 19; Diamond Stubbs, 17; Betrica Brown, 18; Evalena “Lilly” Johnson, 19; and Stania Webb, 19.

Their parents said they were given no warning before photographs and other sentimental items were cleared from the site, depriving them of an opportunity to retrieve keepsakes honouring their children.

Damian Stubbs, Diamond’s father, said he discovered that the memorial had been disturbed when he visited the site on Monday and later learnt that it had been removed.

Mr Stubbs criticised the failure to notify the families, saying they should have been allowed to collect sentimental items, particularly photographs he hoped to preserve and place at the gravesites.

“Tell those people Mr Stubbs say find his daughter picture because I’m coming for it,” he said.

Shantika Williams-McQueen, Keno’s mother, said she also received no notice and had not yet been emotionally prepared to visit the scene.

She said the memorial should have remained in place longer because the families are still grieving and funeral and burial arrangements have not been completed. She had hoped to collect items left by her son’s friends and place them at his grave.

“I can’t speak for everybody, but especially at this time, you know that there’s still a lot of grieving and stuff going on,” she said. “There hasn’t even been, like, the funerals or anything like that for the complete burial of them as yet. I don’t think it should have been removed at this time.”