"Everything good bout mi bredda," she said.

"Mi nuh know, mi nuh know," came her voice again, trembling and cracking with a distinct difference to the firm tone that had just boomed in the air, dismissing any thought of speaking about her dead brother and his son.

She turned away, and when she looked again, her piercing gaze had softened, her eyes were red and glossy, and a tear slid halfway down her cheek. She bit her lips, as a tear rolled down the other cheek. It was too late to hold everything back and Pamella Smellie let out a half-stifled cry, between muffled words.

Pamella, who was mourning the death of her younger brother George Smellie, had taken a day off from work. She said for more than 14 years he had been travelling overseas on the farmwork programme, and usually returned in November or December. However, after an early arrival last week, gunmen cut down the 43-year-old and his 17-year-old son, Winston, at their Long Wall home in Stony Hill, St Andrew on Tuesday, then set it ablaze.

The family of the deceased is finding it difficult to cope with the deaths, which came after a birthday party last Saturday that was filled with fun and excitement and brought them closer to each other.

Stuck remembering

Pamella remembers the last thing her brother said to her.

"Him say Pam, I'm coming up here to look for you on Monday, whole day," she recalled. However, she did not see or speak to her brother.

Like her, Dionne Clare, a friend of the family, was also promised a visit which did not materialise, is now stuck remembering the last hug she shared with the deceased.

Kevin Clarke said his cousin, 17-year-old Winston, graduated this year, and they often spent time together.

"Is a youth whey kind, him look out fi him family. Anything a gwaan wid him family, him waan know," he said. Clarke told The Gleaner that he did not know of Winston being involved in any wrongdoing. However, he surmised that his death was linked to the stabbing death of another person from the same household in July.

'God-fearing and jovial'

Pamella also declared her brother's innocence, saying he was God-fearing and jovial.

"Him nuh know nutten, cause he wasn't here. Growing up we couldn't even keep company so it's really strange to see these things," she said, looking puzzled. "When him gone is like a piece a mi gone."

Back at the crime scene, it was a slippery journey down several tyres that were used for steps leading to the residence of the deceased. The acrid smell of the burnt material was high in the air, as the charred remnants told the tale of Tuesday's attack on the family. On a visit Wednesday, the survivors, including George's spouse and the children, were nowhere to be found.

kimesha.walters@gleanerjm.com