By JADE RUSSELL

Tribune Staff Reporter

jrussell@tribunemedia.net

A FOUR-YEAR-OLD girl who witnessed her father’s murder still plays with dolls as if speaking to him, a haunting reflection of the trauma she carries months after the brutal shooting.

Samantha Clarke, grandmother of the child and mother of 24-year-old murder victim Quintero Arnett, said her granddaughter often uses two dolls—one for herself and one for her father—to act out their conversations.

“If you watch her sometimes, she ask the doll how you feeling? You feeling sad,” Ms Clarke said.

The child saw her father gunned down in February on Dunmore Street in a shooting captured on CCTV. The footage, which showed gunmen continuing to fire as the little girl fled, sparked national outrage.

Ms Clarke said the child sometimes grows quiet and emotional when thinking about her father. Though she fondly says he is in heaven, she struggles to grasp that he will never return.

The grandmother said her granddaughter often groans in her sleep, a disturbing habit that began after the killing. “As long as you laying on the side of her, you probably tap her back and just pray for her to go back sleep. You know, whatever she thinking about or dreaming about, give her peace of mind,” she said.

Days after the shooting, Ms Clarke said the child drew a picture of her father lying on the ground surrounded by people and another of him ascending to heaven.

She described her granddaughter as generally happy but said she remains vigilant about her emotional well-being and plans to ensure she continues counselling.

The family insists Quintero was not the intended target, claiming he had no criminal record or history of trouble with the law.

Ms Clarke has repeatedly urged police to solve the case, accusing the Royal Bahamas Police Force of showing bias in which murders they prioritise. She said she last heard from investigators about three weeks before her son’s funeral.

Since his death, Ms Clarke said she has struggled with sleepless nights and grief, vowing never to let her son’s case go cold.

On the morning of the incident, Quintero sat in a vehicle with his daughter and girlfriend outside a business when a car pulled up. Masked gunmen emerged and opened fire.

In his final moments, Quintero opened the back door so his daughter could escape. The footage showed her pausing briefly, looking at him as the gunmen circled. He appeared to say one last word before collapsing. The child then ran as the gunmen kept firing.