‘Mi leave everything to God’

When Lafay-Ann Wright saw a video on social media showing a young man opening a door for lawmen, the burden of a mother’s grief stirred again, because just days earlier, on September 15, her 22-year-old son Jahmar Farquharson was tragically killed in what police said was a shootout in Cherry Tree Lane, Clarendon.

Only after replaying the video did Wright’s heart break all over again – realising that the figure on the screen was her own son.

“Mi a go through TikTok and mi see the video and a seh, ‘What is this? Di man dem see this yah bredda put him hand [up]?’ and mi a sey, ‘God, a hope dem nuh hurt the person,’” she recalled. “Mi see somebody else put it up, and den mi realise it was my own child.”

Reports from the police are that som etime after 3 p.m. on September 15, lawmen went to a premises in the southern Clarendon community in search of a firearm, when their search was disrupted after Farquharson allegedly pulled a gun and was subsequently shot.

Speaking with The Gleaner, assistant commissioner of the Independent Commission of Investigations, Hamish Campbell, confirmed that his team had secured the original closed-circuit television footage, and was conducting an analysis as part of their probe.

“When they went to the premises, [the police] report that Mr Jahmar Farquharson answered the door to the police, let the police in, and the police then report that they cleared the house to ensure no one else was in. Then they took Mr Farquharson back to his room. Mr Farquharson wasn’t handcuffed or restrained in any way,” Campbell explained.

He added: “The officers report that upon reaching the room, Farquharson reached for a firearm which was among some clothing items, and two officers discharged two rounds each and Farquharson was fatally shot. That’s the police account.”

Wright insists the account of her son’s death does not align with the boy she raised.

“I was not there, and I don’t know what happened, but that video clip tell me everything. The way I grow my child, he was simply following instructions.”

She added with conviction: “Mi can guarantee when him open the door, him say, ‘Good evening, officers’, ‘cause a suh him stay. A suh him grow. If him pass yuh 10 times, a 10 ‘good morning’.”

The police further reported that a 9mm pistol was recovered from the scene. Campbell noted that no other witnesses were on the property.

For Wright, however, her son was no gunman. He was ambitious, loving, and humble. A past student of Denbigh High and Vere Technical High schools, he had completed sixth form before securing employment with the National Water Commission. Alongside steady work, he poured his energy into entrepreneurship – running a catering business, assisting his family with honey production, and taking on welding jobs.

“Him do all kind a work ... every likkle thing. Him all do honey business with his people dem, him do welding ... anything him catch, him do,” she said, her pride piercing through the grief.

Up to yesterday, she had allowed tears to fall.

“Mi leave everything to God. All now I don’t cry. I’m leaving everything in God’s hand,” she told The Gleaner.

The mother admitted she never liked the idea of her son living in Cherry Tree Lane, a community long shadowed by violence. However, Farquharson had chosen to make the community his home about three years ago.

Still, her pain is unrelenting. As she grieves the son she raised to be well-mannered, hard-working and respectful, she prays no other mother will endure what she now carries.

Last Friday, the family led a protest in the parish capital, May Pen, against what they say was “a grave injustice”, and “the cold-blooded murder” of Farquharson, whom they eulogised as humble, friendly and hard-working.

“God will give me justice, because a fasting and prayer mi use. The God I serve knows everything,” Wright said, her faith both her anchor and her cry for justice.

olivia.brown@gleanerjm.com