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While the number of rumours continues to increase as to why 22-year-old Shushania Young was murdered last Monday, the police are continuing their investigations into the brutal death, which is still a subject of discussion in almost every major town.
Young, also called “Rudy”, was slaughtered in the busy York Plaza in Half-Way Tree, St. Andrew. Reports are that after receiving a phone call, she went to meet a man in the plaza. She was seen exchanging words with the man, who later pulled a gun and Young ran. It is alleged that the man fired several shots at Young, who tried to make her escape by running into two stores in the plaza. The man chased her, however, and she tripped and fell. It is alleged that the man went over Young and shot her twice in the head.
“They said when he stood over her, she said, ‘You really a go kill me?’” said a family member of Young, who spoke with the Sunday Herald.
The incident took place in front of scores of persons in the busy plaza, many of whom scampered for cover. The shattered glass of one of the stores Young ran into bears memory of the extremely violent act. No suspects have been identified so far and the police, as well as family members, have been left in a maze as to why the cosmetologist was killed.
“I don’t know why. I would like to know too,” said Young’s elder sister, who was obviously shaken up by the incident.
Rumours
Several rumours have been floating on the streets since the death. Theories have evolved that Young was a witness to a murder; was involved in questionable activities; and that she had broken off a relationship, upsetting her partner. But her family has rubbished the rumours.
“If she saw somebody being killed, she is not the kind of person who is going to tell anybody that,” one family member said, adding that, “People are saying all kinds of things, (including) that she used to carry drugs. Everybody calling my phone to ask me, but I just hang up my phone, because I don’t know anything.”
The police have also dismissed the rumour that Young was a witness to a murder.
The family member said Young was secretive and never shared many details of her personal life with her family. “If she look a way and you ask her what is wrong, she said nothing,” the woman said. She described Young as jovial, but also straightforward and direct.
“If she had something on her mind, she would tell you direct to your face. Many people never liked that, but that was how she was,” she said. The woman said Young’s directness many times caused her to get into arguments with others, but said the deceased woman was a very kind person.
“She was always doing things for people even when they were cutting her throat. Sometimes I tell her that, ‘Rudy, the friends that you have, they don’t mean you any good, them just want things from you,’” the family member said.
Achiever
She, however, said Young was an achiever who strove to get whatever she set her mind to. “She always like the best and expected the best from other people,” she said.
Young is a past student of Clan Carthy High School who later studied cosmetology. Her sister said after leaving cosmetology school, Young worked at two salons in the Half-Way Tree area, before opening her own shop, where she rented booths to different cosmetologists.
Her reputation as one of the best hair stylists in the Half-Way Tree area, as well as her party girl lifestyle, made Young very popular. She was a frequent patron at many nightclubs and street parties in Kingston, where her fame also grew rapidly for her exceptional dancing skills. Young’s family said she loved the “hype” life.
She was the second of three girls for her mother, who has been torn up by the incident. “She (mother) is worrying about us and trying to hold up, but I know that she is not alright. I know she is just putting the best outside,” said Young’s elder sister.
She said her younger sister, who recently gave birth, has been taking the death very hard and frequently breaks down. But the sister said she is in no better state than the rest of her family.
“Even now I don’t accept it (death). I am just trying to hold up because somebody has to stand up,” she said, adding that since Monday she has not eaten anything much. “I try to eat and people force me to eat, but I can’t eat,” she said. “ I don’t feel hungry and I know I am supposed to eat, but I can’t.”
She said she was also having difficulty sleeping at nights and coming to terms with the death. “Sometimes I call her number just to see if it’s true. Just to hear her say something,” the sister said.