Minister of Foreign Affairs and Immigration Fred Mitchell and Member of Parliament for Fox Hill paid tribute to the four people that lost their lives as a result of a mass shooting in December 2013.

“We remember not only Claudzino Davis, Shanique Sands, Eric Morrison and Shaquille Demeritte but we remember the nine others who were injured on that occasion,” he said at a gathering in Freedom Park.

“They are alive but bear living testament to the vicious and hateful act which occurred on this Freedom Park on December 27th, 2013. That was a horrible night. It left a hole in the lives and in the hearts of many. Tonight we remember them all, those who are still with us and those are no longer with us. In the Book of Corinthians, the Bible asks the question: O death where is the sting? The answer is that there is no sting of death so long as we remember them. Tonight we remember them, we memorialize them. They are our friends and brothers, and sister. They are family. They are still with us.”
Minister Mitchell mentioned that when Carlton Francis inaugurated the use of Freedom Park on New Year’s Eve back in 1967, he and his successor Lionel Davis had the idea in the mind that they would memorialize the connection of African freedom in The Bahamas in Fox Hill. The minister said, he will continue that dream.

“Tonight, we add to what they accomplished, by adding a new dimension to the park which was further developed by the late George Mackey,” he said.

“I hope that when the children of the future come to this place, they will look at these stones and if they do not know, will ask the question: what do these stones mean.

“We will tell them that they mean that four young people, young Bahamians of African descent passed this way in the African village of Fox Hill, in the Commonwealth of The Bahamas. They loved their families and their community. They left behind a legacy of kindness and not hate. That good triumphed over evil. That better is yet to come.”