By EARYEL BOWLEG

Tribune Staff Reporter

ebowleg@tribunemedia.net

THE father of a 12-year-old girl injured in a murder-suicide is fighting for full custody, claiming the system failed to protect his daughter after she pleaded to leave her mother’s home.

Shannon Davis, 37, said his daughter had expressed fears weeks before the tragedy unfolded inside a Montel Heights residence early Tuesday morning. Her mother, Patricia Major, and her mother’s boyfriend were shot and injured. The gunman — Major’s ex, Jeffrey Mackey — was found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot.

“I couldn’t do nothing because how [expletive] up the system is,” he told The Tribune. “If the system aint find the mother unfit, they can never give the child to the daddy.”

Mr Davis said he learned about the attack through his brother, who urged him to go to the hospital.

“She was trying to get out of that house,” he said, describing her as bright, going into Grade 8.

Mr Davis said he was aware of Mackey’s violent past and had warned that the situation was unsafe. He is now in contact with the Ministry of Social Services and working to file for custody.

Attorney Shantelle Munroe, a civil litigator specialising in family law, said he has legal grounds to seek custody, especially if the child was exposed to violence.

She said courts typically act out of caution in such cases, prioritising the child’s welfare while weighing both parents’ actions or inaction.

Relatives of the mother said Tuesday’s incident wasn’t a random outburst but a tragedy years in the making.

Ms Major reportedly filed complaints against her ex-boyfriend of 21 years, and recently attempted to have him bound over to keep the peace.

Their daughter, 18-year-old Tresia, told The Tribune her father had been unravelling for some time, writing disturbing notes and issuing threats.

“I know he wanted to kill her,” she said. “The police know that, so instead of the police lock him up, I don’t know why the police left him alone. This isn’t the first time.”

She recounted how her father would leave notes suggesting he planned to kill her mother and take his own life, writing things like: “She treat me like a dog so I gotta take her away with me.”

Tresia said her father was emotionally volatile, threatening her if she didn’t convince her mother to visit him.