‘I was accepting that I was about to die’

The night Britney witnessed her father, Keith Clarke, being shot and killed by soldiers was not just a nightmare, it was also a moment where she accepted her own life was about to end.

Testifying on Tuesday at the ongoing murder trial, the witness, who had just turned 18 when the deadly May 2010 raid occurred, recalled being devastated.

“It felt like a nightmare [but] it was a real thing,” she said. “I really have no words to explain what I went through that night.”

Her father, a 63-year-old chartered accountant, was shot 21 times during the raid at his Kirkland Close home in Red Hills, St Andrew, by soldiers in search of then fugitive Christopher ‘Dudus’ Coke, who was wanted by United States authorities for drug and gunrunning offences.

Three soldiers – lance corporals Greg Tingling and Odel Buckley, as well as Private Arnold Henry – are presently on trial for his murder in the Home Circuit Court before Justice Dale Palmer.

The witness, who was observed sighing deeply and exhaling throughout her tearful testimony, also detailed two separate instances when her mind was flooded with thoughts of what she believed were her final moments.

The first instance, the court heard, was when she and her mother were huddled inside the bathroom in the master bedroom while their house was under sustained attack.

Britney said her father, after instructing them to lock themselves inside the bathroom, had left the room with his licensed firearm, just after stating that he “didn’t want criminals to come in and kill us off”.

At that moment, she said, “I accepted the fact that I was going to die, so I began to call the police again. I called my pastor. I called the director of Praise Academy Dance, and I also called our neighbours.”

After making those calls, Britney said she told her mother to stop calling people and pray.

The other occasion, she recalled, was after her father returned to the room, and while they were inside, they heard the door being cut off while the gunshots continued.

“I was accepting that I was about to die,” she said as tears welled up in her eyes.

Britney testified that while she and her mother were inside the bathroom, her father returned and they opened the bedroom door to allow him inside.

ASSEMBLED IN BATHROOM

However, she said after they all assembled inside the bedroom, she and her mother returned to the bathroom and her father climbed on top of a cupboard in the closet.

But before climbing up, she said she saw her father throw his gun on top of the closet.

On her return to the bathroom, Britney said she resumed making calls, and based on information her mother received from the neighbours, she climbed on top of the toilet and screamed on top her lungs through the bathroom window, pleading for help.

She testified that she was hoping that the police would hear her, but there was no response.

“I was pleading for help letting the persons know that I had CAPE exams and where I attend school,” she said, referring to the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examinations administered by the Caribbean Examinations Council.

“I also began screaming a prayer,” she shared.

After some time, Britney said she started hearing gunshots inside her house and shortly after, she heard a loud “sawing sound” at the door.

On hearing the sound, along with male voices, Britney said she tried speaking to them. However, the court did not hear whether there was any response.

Recollecting that she had also been praying, Britney said she made the decision to face the darkness, and she and her mother exited the bathroom.

“I was saying to the voices [that] they don’t have to saw off the door, I could open it,” Britney recalled.

But while leaving the bathroom behind her mother, she said six to eight soldiers, who had very long guns with bright lights at the tip, entered the room.

Closing her eyes as if to jog her memory, Britney recalled the soldiers pointing their guns at them and asking, “Who live here?” and “Weh di gunman dem deh?”

However, she said as her mother pointed at her father, who was coming down from the closet with his back turned to the soldiers, they fired multiple shots at him and he fell motionless to the floor.

“I screamed out and they told me to shut up,” she further testified.

Following the shooting, Britney said several soldiers started streaming into the room and started asking more questions, during which her mother indicated that her husband was a licensed firearm holder.

The witness said the soldiers started searching for the weapon and she eventually told them to look on top of the closet and she saw when a soldier climbed up and retrieved the weapon.

Britney will continue her testimony today.

tanesha.mundle@gleanerjm.com