Orisha leaders yesterday evoked the spirits of their ancestors as they prayed for the soul of Abigail Johnson, who was killed by police at Rochard Douglas Road, Barrackpore, two weeks ago, along with her two friends-Keron Eccles and Alana Duncan. Amidst the uproar and rage which followed Johnson's death, Orisha's Chief Priestess, Valerie Leeche, called on the ancestral spirits to bring peace and justice to the Moruga community. Leeche said: "All of us have lost a daughter. Let this be a lesson to us that we all need to come together. I call upon our ancestors to bring about justice, I call upon our ancestors to bring about peace." The funeral started around 2 pm at Johnson's home on Burton Trace, St Mary's.
Mourners danced and clapped to the sounds of bongo drums. Several people rang bells, sprinkled lavender and holy water on the ground, while others lit candles around the casket. Johnson's spiritual father, Bishop Kawmi Jordan, told mourners Johnson had seen signs of her death through her Orisha faith. Recounting the spiritual story, Jordan said: "Two days before Abigail was killed, she had a vision of her dead father coming to her. He told her, I will make you rich, just come with me and she went." Jordan said the morning before her death, Johnson told the story to her grandmother, May Johnson.
Jordan said: "when Orisha warns you, take heed."
He said even in death Johnson had a job to perform. "No grave could hold her body down. We have sent her to do a job," Jordan said as her relatives rocked her casket and passed young toddlers over it. The relatives placed four camphor balls at the four corners of her casket. They also wrote a message on Johnson's coffin before "sending her off". The mourners took her body through the streets of Moruga, from Mandingo Junction to Indian Walk, where she was laid to rest at Paynter's Cemetery. MP for Princes Town Clifton de Couteau said he knew Johnson as her grandmother was a supporter when he contested the election last year.
He described her as an ambitious person who worked diligently at her DVD store. Also attending the funeral were Minister of the People Dr Glenn Ramadharsingh and former MP, Peter Taylor. Johnson, 20, and her friends were killed in a police shooting on July 22 in Barrackpore. Police alleged they were fired on and that they found a weapon in the trio's white Nissan Sentra. The incident sparked six days of protest in Moruga. The protest ended on Sunday when Police Commissioner Dwayne Gibbs intervened and appointed an independent investigator. Eccles' funeral takes place today at 2 pm at the Indian Walk Open Bible Church, Moruga. Duncan was buried on Saturday.