By KARIN HERIG
Tribune Staff Reporter
kherig@tribunemedia.net
A MOTHER of two was brutally slain in front of her children and other relatives in what family and friends believe was a case of mistaken identity with devastating consequences.
Tagia Soles-Armony, 29, was shot in front of her grandmother's house on Sea Grape Avenue, in Sea Breeze, on Friday night at around 8pm as she was taking her three-month-old son from his car seat.
Her heartbroken family now has to come to terms with what seems to have been a senseless killing of a young woman who was described by all who knew her as "fun-loving, outgoing and lovable".
Friends of the dead woman, who was a former student of Xavier's Lower School and St Andrew's School, told The Tribune that a gunman approached Mrs Soles-Armony as she was just getting out of the car, a white 2008 Honda Accord, to go into her grandmother's house.
"Her oldest son had just run up to ring her grammy's door bell. She was getting the baby when a man holding a gun confronted her. He shot at her and she got back into the car to try and escape," said a tearful close school friend.
"She was injured and totalled other parked cars as she tried to get away.
"It went so quick I don't even know if her grandmother had any time to even come out of the house."
Another friend said they were told Mrs Soles-Armony was shot in the arm, with the bullet travelling through to her heart or lungs.
Police reported yesterday that the victim was shot in her left side and was found in "a lifeless state" after she drove a short distance along Sea Grape Avenue, rear-ending a parked Nissan Sentra and causing damage to two other parked vehicles.
Officers also said two girls, aged 12 and seven, had just got out of the car seconds before the shooting occurred. Neither the girls nor Mrs Soles-Armony's sons were harmed.
Police press officer Asst Supt Walter Evans said: "A man was seen leaving the area in a vehicle shortly after the sound of the gunshot. Police are asking the public to assist in helping to find the person responsible for taking the life of this young female. We are not in a position to state the motive for this unfortunate situation. An intensive investigation has been launched."
The mother of two is the country's 50th homicide victim for the year.
Mrs Soles-Armony -- who lived in St Kitts with her husband Kachi Armony and their two sons, one-year-old Chelan and three-month-old Zen -- had just arrived in Nassau.
In a message to her friends on a social networking site she proclaimed how happy she was to be back home.
Only a short time later messages of sadness and "rest in peace" were added to the site by those who knew and loved her.
Friends of the deceased who spoke to The Tribune yesterday were all in shock over Mrs Soles-Armony's death and remembered her as "the last person someone would wish ill on."
"She was hyper-active and outspoken. She was the kind of person who always wanted to see other people smile, and her mood was infectious," a school friend said.
Another friend who attended St Andrew's High School with her said he cannot believe anyone would want to harm her. After leaving St Andrew's, Mrs Soles-Armony got a degree in accounting and economics, and friends believed she was working at PricewaterhouseCoopers at the time of her death.
Published On:Monday, August 10, 2009