In a week marked by bloodshed, in the New Village community, where 18-year-old Jhanick Jn Philip was gunned down, the loss reverberated through families and streets still shaken by the sound of gunshots.
The 18-year-old, a recent graduate still glowing with pride over his hard-earned certificates and medals, became another name on Saint Lucia’s growing list of gun violence victims.
He died at the Owen King European Hospital, in the early hours of Tuesday, July 1, after a shooting the night before, around 11:24 pm.
“He wasn’t in any gang. Nothing like that,” Philip’s aunt said.
To his family, he was “a loving child” and the household’s resident “clown”, whose absence has left a void no arrest can fill.
“He was going to school every single day,” his aunt told St Lucia Times, “Everything to the family. So right now, it’s just a big loss.”
The killing has reignited fears in New Village, a community that had begun to believe the worst was behind it. A 30-year resident, who asked not to be named, recalled the neighbourhood’s recent fragile peace.
“I was so happy with how quiet it had become. But now I don’t like how it’s going.”
Some residents are taking matters into their own hands. “Me and the other gentlemen around will try to curb these things,” the longtime resident said. ” I just wish our community would come back quiet and peaceful.”
For Jn Philip’s family, such efforts come too late.
“It’s crazy,” his aunt said. “I don’t know what they need to do, but it needs to stop.
It hurts families and friends.”
His was one of a string of killings in the last week that pushed the murder toll to 36.
