(Observer)Each morning Patricia Marcel rolls herself into her unpaved yard to the exact spot where her daughter was gunned down, hoping to find some peace of mind.
Nia Rose, of Green Bay, was just 21 when she succumbed to six gunshot wounds two weeks ago. The horrific incident unfolded when a gunman entered her yard and opened fire allegedly intended for her friend Kenarca Ryan, who was with her and who also lost his life.
Marcel, who is in her 60s and uses a wheelchair, told Observer she initially mistook the sound of the gunfire for children playing with firecrackers.
“I was lying on my bed and heard sounds like firecrackers outside. I said to myself, why are the children playing so late? Then I heard screams and someone was calling Nia’s name. I struggled out of bed and got into my wheelchair, and my niece told me to go back inside,” she recalled.
The grief-stricken woman explained that her niece told her something had happened to Nia, who was rushed to the hospital in a private vehicle because EMS was taking too long to get there.
“They finally told me Nia got shot, but she was in theatre and would be ok. They told me over the phone that Kenarca was shot and he was also in theatre, but they will be fine,” Marcel said, barely holding back her tears.
Marcel said she was determined to stay awake that dreadful night while waiting for news of her daughter’s condition from those who went to the Sir Lester Bird Medical Centre.
“I did not go to sleep. I stayed up praying for my Nia,” she said. “When they returned, they told me Kenarca is alive and had successful surgery. I asked about Nia. I kept asking, what about Nia…I kept asking over and over and over and nobody was saying anything.”
There was dead silence from the sombre faces around her, Marcel said.
“What about Nia,” she asked again, this time in a sterner voice. Eventually someone blurted out, “Mama, Nia dead.”
Pausing to wipe the tears, Marcel continued her recollection of the incident, saying “I didn’t believe what they were telling me. I shouted, not my Nia.”
Marcel said she has been unable to sleep or eat since, hoping for a miracle where Nia will walk into the room and tell her it was all a bad dream.
But, as the days go by, Marcel said she is slowly coming to terms with the fact that this is her reality.
“She died young. Nia wasn’t a perfect child, but she didn’t have to die this way. I understand that they had come for Kenarca, but she was sitting in front of him on the bench, so they opened fire.
“If they came for Kenarca and they saw Nia, why did they still shoot and kill my daughter,” she said.
Tragically, it is not the first time Marcel has suffered the heart-breaking loss of a child.
Less than two years ago, her son Arthur James was also killed. James’ body was discovered inside a burnt-out vehicle in Willoughby Bay.
“They are killing my children one by one. I live in fear that I may have to bury all my children. I wonder which one of them is next…I don’t know what is happening…look at my life…lord, look at my life,” she said.
Marcel mothered six children in total, two of whom are now dead.
Rose left behind a two-year-old son, now living with his father.
“Before Nia died, she bought him a car. I know he doesn’t understand what is going on, but I was told he wakes up at night calling for his mother,” Marcel told Observer.
She said the toddler points to the toy car, saying, “I am going to get mommy in that car and bring her back home.”
Meanwhile, police are continuing to search for the perpetrators of the August 14 incident. Spokesman Inspector Frankie Thomas said several people have been interviewed and various leads are being followed.
Anyone with information is asked to call CID at 462-3913 or CrimeStoppers at 800-8477.
