PAINFUL SILENCE
No contact from game crew deepens grief for family after bird-shooting tragedy
Published:Friday | August 23, 2024 | 12:13 AMAshley Anguin/Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
A week has passed since 38-year-old Marlon Davis was fatally shot while on a bird-shooting expedition in the bushes near Barrett Hall, St James. Despite the time that has elapsed, his family remains in deep mourning, still grappling with several unanswered questions.
To compound their grief, the family told The Gleaner that they have received no communication from any member of the game crew, including the individual who reportedly fired the fatal shot, regarding the answers they desperately need.
“It is my belly pain. It is my son and his life gone like that. Marlon never to come back,” said a wailing Nora Walters as she spoke with The Gleaner.
“[Him] inna di fridge and him nuh deserve that. Father God, tek the case, God. Vengeance belongs unto you, Lord,” she continued, sitting with the deceased man’s stepfather, Witford McKenzie, as they sought to console each other.
“Marlon gone. No more Marlon. Not going to see him again until the Resurrection … . God bless him soul. My son doesn’t deserve it. His innocent blood on the earth in bud bush there crying out to God,” she added.
Davis, a well-loved woodcarver known as ‘Nash’ in his community of Carey Park, Trelawny, was the last of four sons for his mother.
Over the past decade, he took to game bird shooting as a passionate hobby and was looking forward to the 2024 season, which began on Saturday, August 17, and will run for the next six weekends.
Shortly after 6:30 a.m. on the first day of the season, Davis was reportedly shot by one of the hunters and subsequently died.
The police are leaning on the belief that it was a case of death by misadventure, but the matter is still under probe.
“Investigations are still going on, and statements are being collected from all the persons who were there,” Superintendent Eron Samuels, commander for the St James Police Division, told The Gleaner.
Davis’ mother is questioning why no member of the shooting party has contacted her.
“No one comes to ask who the mother is? Disrespect me as a mother; they don’t care. ... . That’s not right. No, I don’t feel pleased how they handle me as [his] mother,” said Walters.
Davis died leaving behind a 15-year-old daughter, with whom the family said he had a very special bond.
His family and the wider Carey Park community saw him as a provider, a protector, and a friend.
“The little girl loves him and he loves her. Anything happens to her, him rush with her. He made sure she went to school every day and provided for her. She is to go to school in September and nobody shows up?” Walters again questioned.
“When Marlon is in the street, him tell dem the only thing him don’t take from me is my complexion, but mi a him father and mi miss Marlon,” the stepfather chimed in.
During last year’s bird-shooting season, Davis slipped and broke a leg in three places. That accident made the family nervous about him going back to hunt birds again this year.
As she reflected on their last interaction, his girlfriend of four years, Deborah Chin, told The Gleaner that his death has left a hole in her heart.
“He promised me he was not going to do anything to injure himself again. I was very concerned because of last year. You cannot stop a man from doing what he loves for such a long time. We packed his bag and he left,” Chin said.
“I was devastated, considering last year I got the same phone call. This year, it was fatal, so I was beyond devastated. It is that phone call you never ever want to get. It puts you in the position where someone is missing from your life. It’s traumatic, it’s horrible,” she added.
“I am looking for him, waiting for him. [It hurts] to not hear from anyone surrounded by this incident to look at me, his mother, father, and brothers and to say, ‘We are deeply sorry’ as if his life was not valued,” Chin said.
“I hope whoever is involved can put some effort and urgency to come and have dialogue with my family,” shared the victim’s brother, Max. “It is not a good look. I am nowhere satisfied [with] how the situation has been treated so far.”