Ottley Hall gunman was lying in wait – Relatives

The gunman who shot 18-year-old Bennisha Baptiste in her back was lying in wait for her to arrive home.{{more}}

That is what evidence recovered by police suggests, family members told SEARCHLIGHT.

Bennisha’s mother Judy Baptiste pointed to the area of her Ottley Hall residence, where the gunman had been waiting for her daughter, saying that she has since cut down the bit of vegetation in her yard.

Baptiste said her daughter, who was nine months pregnant when she was shot, was out at a nearby shop, and had been making her way back home when the incident occurred last Saturday night.

The mother recalled that it was shortly before 10 p.m. when she heard her daughter knocking on the door.

“As she say ‘Mummy’, all I could hear is ‘Pow!’”

She said she raced to the door, and after opening it, she saw her pregnant daughter holding her back and crying out for pain. Baptiste said that her daughter told her that she saw her attacker run away.

The mother said that she immediately called out for help to take Bennisha to the hospital, while she went to make a report at the mobile police unit stationed in Ottley Hall.

Doctors were able to save both Bennisha and the baby, but Judy says that she is still uncertain about the extent of her daughter’s injuries.

“I feel bad, I feel real bad because I don’t know what going to happen,” she said.

“She ain’t fully recover yet, I feel real bad about Bennisha and she child,” Judy continued.

“I feel bad for what happened to my sister – I can’t say anything, I out ah words,” Madonna Baptiste, older sister of Bennisha, said.

Judy and Madonna both say although worried, they are happy that the young lady and her new born baby girl are both alive.

Up to press time Wednesday, no arrest had been made in the matter.

Police say they are on the hunt for Lara Carter in connection with the shooting. The relatives told SEARCHLIGHT that Bennisha and Carter were romantically involved, but had broken up almost a year ago. They say that the couple’s romance did not last very long, as things had gone sour between the two. (DD)