CHAMPS BRINGS MOM GRIEF

Dawnette Atkinson (left) shows off photographs of her 20-year-old daughter, Jannoy Campbell. - Nagra Plunkett photo

Rasbert Turner, STAR Writer

The annual Boys and Girls' Athletic Championships often brings happiness to many through the exploits on the track, however, to Dawnette Atkinson it is a time of grief.

Each year since 2012, the staging of the championships has brought with it sad memories for Atkinson. It is a grim reminder of how she lost her daughter two years ago while en route to the annual championships.

"It was March 2012 that my daughter Jannoy Campbell and Nyoka Campbell left Montego Bay to the championship and were not seen alive again," she said.

Stab wounds

She continued; "In fact, we found their bodies with several stab wounds. It still affects me each time the championships comes around."

The bodies of 20-year-old Jannoy Campbell and her 25-year-old niece, Nyoka Campbell, of Mount Salem and Hendon, Glendevon, addresses, respectively, in Montego Bay, St James, were found in bushes in Spring Village, St Catherine, on March 31, 2012.

The young women were students at the Western Hospitality Institute in Montego Bay and left their home parish to attend the 2012 staging of the championships in Kingston.

The trip had become customary for Jannoy for a few years, except that on that occasion she reportedly accepted a ride from Nyoka, who said her brother would be transporting them. But the women reached only as far as Old Harbour in St Catherine where their bodies were found in bushes.

When THE STAR spoke to Atkinson recently, the grieving mother said she remembered the incident like it's yesterday. While not delving too much into the pain the loss of her daughter has caused her, she said that the championships has evoked bitter memories since March 2012.

Following the murder of both women, the police charged taxi operator Joseph Walker, who is now remanded in custody in connection with their deaths.

Investigators told THE STAR that the matter will again be mentioned on April 21 in the Spanish Town Resident Magistrate's Court.