Rivers of tears as woman killed in Spring Village mass shooting is laid to rest

Eubanks, 35, was one of three persons killed during a mass shooting on September 18, 2022 at the Best Dressed Chicken Sports Complex in the community of Spring Village, four miles north-east of Old Harbour town.

Throughout the more than two-hour funeral service hundreds of bereaved persons wept openly, some uncontrollably to the point where they had to be ushered away as each tribute touched the core of every soul present.

Community social activist Randy Finnikin remembered Eubanks as a “bundle of joy and a bundle of energy” who brought a lot “warmth and love to not only her family where she was really an anchor, but to the community”.

Following a prolonged floral tribute, coworkers of Eubanks described her as one who was very respectful, sociable, punctual and reliable.

“There was never a dull moment around her. We have lost one of the realest persons,” they said.

The woman many preferred to call ‘Aunty’ or ‘Tamara’ was also a “hardworking, family-oriented individual” who loved unconditionally.

Rev. Kevin South, delivering the sermon, reminded the congregation of the importance to return to a “God-centred lifestyle” as the current norm is nothing but a “compromised” version of what Christ represents.

The senior pastor said: “As such the fear of God, which is a clear reflection of trust in God and respect for things of God, seemingly has lost its effectiveness in the world.”

To bring home this point in his sermon, Rev South cited the high crime rate of the country while juxtaposing the struggles of the nation from the time of slavery.

“Our nation, Jamaica, was not built by the proliferation of illegal drugs and guns. Our nation was not built on the greed for wealth at the cost of lives. It was not built on the greed to engage in all kinds of immoral and lawless acts in order to be happy, and it was not built on the protection of witchcraft, the drinking of blood and the wearing of guard rings to feel safe,” he preached.

“Jamaica came out of her many struggles, and especially through slavery. And we did so, not so through a lack of care for love for our brothers and sisters. It was not out of self-centred motives and neither was it out of bitterness and resentment and un-forgiveness. Our nation, Jamaica came out of the pangs of slavery and its deadly control through the fear of God. The fear of God was that which motivated daddy Sam Sharpe, motivated Paul Bogle, motivated George William Gordon.”

The body of Sashagaye Eubanks was interred at the Thetford Memorial Park in Church Pen.