By Claude Mills, Staff Reporter 
A resident of Kraal, Clarendon, stares at the concrete memorial erected in the memory of the persons killed in an alleged shootout with the police on May 7, 2003. - Norman Grindley/Staff Photographer
WITH TEARS of pain filling their eyes, a few dozen residents of Kraal, Clarendon, were joined last Friday by human rights activists, and well-wishers who had come to the small farming community to participate in the first memorial service to mark the gun slayings of one year ago.
It was the anniversary of the controversial shooting deaths of Angella Richards, 45; Lewena 'Ferris' Thompson, 38, and two men identified as Kirk 'Renegade' Gordon and Matthew James at Miss Richards' home last year by the Reneto Adams-led and now defunct Crime Management Unit.
The community is located near to Pennants in north central Clarendon.
Although the gathering was small, and the church, half-finished concrete structure, the mourners' voices were strong and melodious resonating with a steely resolve suggesting that they would endure and transcend the awful memories of that dark day in May 2003.
The voices floated above the jangle of tambourines and mournful strains of the guitar, and soon pulled other residents, some in jeans, who hung outside the church in solidarity. Young boys played a spirited game of cricket not far away, while steam rose from the food being prepared by other residents.
Yvonne Sobers, convenor of the group Families Against State Terrorism (FAST), dressed in a shirt emblazoned with the defiant words, 'No Peace Without Justice', was seated in the front pew of the church, and sang lustily along with the congregation.
For the casual onlooker, the proceedings had a distinctly depressing quality driven home by the stark poverty of the community. The First Holiness Church of Apostolic Faith in which the service was held had an uneven concrete floor, no windows, and board pews, some of which were supported by concrete blocks. Everything about Kraal reeks sadness, even the simple painted memorial with its spelling errors and its unwieldy lettering.
Most of those in attendance tried to keep up their spirits by clapping hands and joining in the singing. But for some, the memory of their loved ones merely sharpened their grief, and some of them just sat down with wretched looks on their face, almost catatonic in their grief, staring at nothing.
Ann-marie Smith, a sister of one of the deceased, invoked a bit of laughter and energy into the proceedings with a fiery tirade.
"Kirk and Matthew a woman man, dem anno gunman. Kirk was a loving father, a really nice man...but I know that out of bad, comes good, and we will all realize it one day. And until the policeman dem kill a big man son, it nah go change," she warned with all the fire-breathing tenacity of an Old Testament prophetess.
Ms. Sobers gave a heartfelt address that revolved around the 'weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning' theme. She praised the community for enduring threats, pressure and intimidation to ensure that justice was rendered for the slain men and women.
"Kraal is now on the map. People know the name of Kraal, not just in Jamaica. Kraal does not mean the death of Ferris, Kirk, Matthew and Angie. It is about to and already symbolizes the struggle for justice, and it will symbolize justice one day," she intoned gravely to nods of approval and amens from the congregation. "Kraal has changed the way investigations are carried out, as this one involved the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the FBI, Scotland Yard...it was big and it showed how things must be done, so we have to give thanks to the local police and the policemen overseas as well.
"Kraal went straight to the Supreme Court, there was no Coroner's Inquest. The CMU was disbanded out of Kraal, we thought it couldn't happen but as I said, weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning. That means that Kraal has helped to make the system work better."
At a few minutes after 5:00 p.m., the mourners observed a few minutes of silence to mark the moment when the shooting was believed to have started.
Then Member of Parliament for North Central Clarendon, Pearnel Charles, addressed the congregation.
