Tagia Soles-Armony

Published On:Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Tribune Staff Reporter

tthompson@tribunemedia.net

AS police remain baffled over the motiveless killing of a mother of two, a neighbour has revealed her harrowing last words.

The gunman who shot Tagia Soles-Armony at close range walked up to her, and as he cocked his weapon the terrified 29-year-old screamed: "No! No! No! Don't do that!"

Seconds later a gunshot rang through the air followed by a series of crashes as the wounded woman drove off to escape her attacker and ended up hitting a number of nearby cars.

The cries of her three-month-old son, who neighbours said was cushioned between his bleeding mother and the car's airbag, were the next sounds residents heard.

"A guy who live 'round here told me he was outside when he heard a girl scream. And then he heard a gun cock, and that's when he knew someone was going to get shot," said a neighbour who asked not to be identified.    

Neighbours said the brazen gunman — described as a 5' 9" slim, dark male — approached the victim after the crash to presumably see if she was still alive, but was scared off by people who had come to inspect the commotion.  

Neighbour Jillian Rodgers said her 30-year-old son, who was getting out of a car rear-ended in the crash,  rescued the infant whose face was covered in his mother's blood.

"My sister and I were sitting inside the house when I heard the gunshot. Then we heard two loud crashes and a loud bang. I hung up the phone, ran towards the front door and saw my son hobbling towards me with the baby," said Ms Rodgers, who first thought her son was hurt in a drive-by shooting.

"The baby was screaming. Blood was on the side of the baby's head. We didn't know if the baby was bleeding or what," she told The Tribune yesterday.

The child was not injured.

Ms Soles-Armony was attacked at around 8 pm Friday as she was reportedly breast-feeding her three-month-old son in her sister's car outside her mother's house on Sea Grape Avenue, Sea Breeze.

When police arrived on the scene, she was already dead.  

 Shards of glass, presumably from the victim's car window, still littered the street outside her mother's home yesterday.

Overcome with her grief, Tagia's mother could only say: "She was well-loved."

Police do not have a motive for the killing, and have appealed for the public for information which would help their investigation.

"We haven't established a motive yet but we are following significant leads," said ACP Raymond Gibson.

Early reports indicate Ms Armony, who had just returned home with her infant son and one-year-old son to visit her mother, may have been the victim of mistaken identity.

While he declined to release any details about the case, ACP Gibson said police think Ms Armony's attack was an isolated incident.

"The most I can say is we don't think it (her shooting) was a trend," he said.

Tagia, who lived in St Kitts with her husband Kachi Armony, was reportedly in town for a few days to celebrate her mother's birthday.

She reportedly spent the afternoon at the mall with her two younger sisters and two sons. The young girls and Ms Armony's elder son had just got out of the car to knock on the front door of the family home, when the victim was shot.

Her husband, a St Kitts businessman and radio show co-host, reportedly flew to her family's side after her murder.