By RASHAD ROLLE

Tribune Staff Reporter

rrolle@tribunemedia.net

FAMILIES of the victims of the gun violence that killed four Fox Hill residents after the 2013 Boxing Day Junkanoo gathered in Fox Hill’s Freedom Park yesterday as the memorial being created in their memory nears completion.

Contractor Warren Davis said the memorial, which has cost about $80,000 to construct, is about three-quarters complete, with only some landscaping work and a “few other touches” left.

Claudzeno Davis, Shenique Sands, Eric Morrison and Shaquille Demeritte were the victims of the brutal drive-by shooting on December 27, 2013, that devastated the community.

Sonia Kemp, the mother of Shaquille, cried yesterday as she expressed appreciation to the government for constructing the memorial in the victims’ memory.

“Even though my son is gone, and he’s not with us here physically, we still have a spot that I could pass by, could stop by and remember my son by and that means a whole lot to me,” she said.

Fox Hill MP Fred Mitchell said the memorial will stand as something generations of community residents could learn from.

“The (memorial) was designed to be friendly and accessible so those people who can’t manage to come up the stairs, who have to use wheelchair access, (could have access to it),” he said.

“It’s in plain sight of the park, under the silk cotton tree. There is a lot of legend associated with the tree. I know it must be a very sobering time for all the families because it’s very difficult to actually come back to the site. I was just talking to Ms Kemp earlier and she talked about how difficult it is for her to even pass this place so hopefully this, when it’s done, there’s a monument for each person that has fallen and those families will be able to have the names placed on the plaque here. There will be a plaque to commemorate them and we want to make this a real, permanent memorial so the children, the generations coming will remember them. We will remember that we are committed to peace in our neighbourhood and the larger development of Fox Hill.”

It has not been determined when the memorial will be commissioned, but Mr Mitchell expressed hope that this would happen at the start of the Fox Hill Festival this summer.

Shortly after 6pm that evening, a dark coloured Honda vehicle drove to the Fox Hill roundabout. Someone inside the car opened fire on a crowd of people, police said at the time.

Seven other people were taken to hospital for treatment after the gun attack.