Friday, March 29, 2024

Relatives grieve for loveable Shanna

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There is no doubt about it. Shanna Griffith loved life!
She loved to dress up, loved going out and loved to laugh a lot.
But those elements were snapped away in the twinkling of an eye last Friday night when the 18-year-old was among six females who lost their lives in a horrendous blaze at Campus Trendz store on Tudor Street, The City.
She died in the ambulance en route to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital.
The fire is believed to have been started by two men who robbed the store and also seriously wounded a female supervisor before throwing an incendiary device and fleeing the scene.
Left to die along with Shanna were two other employees, Kellisha Olliviere and Pearl Amanda Cornelius, and customers Nikkita Belgrave, Kelly-Ann Welch and Tiffany Harding.
No words could explain the pain felt by family members and friends, who huddled together at her home in Pile Bay, Spring Garden, St Michael, yesterday. Shanna’s mother Shelly sat weeping and was too distraught to speak.
Her brother Shane, who spoke lovingly of his sister, said the former Deacons Primary and St James Secondary student loved life to the fullest.
He regretted not seeing his sister before she had left home for work on that fateful morning.
“She loved going out, she loved to laugh . . . Shanna was a really nice girl, she was really a cool person to talk to . . . so understandable . . . she had her moods at times, but we had a good relationship,” he recalled.
Outspoken aunt Sandra Williams is anxious for justice.
“Shanna ain’t see a star pitch yet and her life gone so stupid. But if Government does not do something about these [types of] crimes, it will only get worse! Something needs to be done,” she lamented.
Shanna’s father Stanley Phillips is also yet to come to terms with the death of the 18-year-old.
“She loved to dress up and she loved to look pretty . . . . She was my heart,” he said, hanging his head.
Phillips said he was normally very protective of Shanna, but admitted he had “slackened up a bit”.
“She would say, ‘Daddy I’m a big girl’, but now I’m sorry I slackened up . . . . I used to collect her every evening from work and I had stopped, and now this has happened,” he said as her mother fought to hold back the tears.
Phillips said his daughter, who wanted to be a chef and was scheduled to begin cooking classes, was well loved.
“Everybody loves Shanna. This phone rings non-stop for Shanna every day. She will be missed by everyone,” he said. (CT)

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