Rasbert Turner, Gleaner Writer 
Two-year-old Jaheim Graham wipes a tear after a night of horror in which his uncle, Frederick Ford, was shot and then burnt to death by gunmen in their home in the community of Pleasant Hill in Bog Walk, St. Catherine. - Ricardo Makyn/Staff Photographer
Spanish Town, St. Catherine:
A mother and her seven children miraculously survived an attack in St. Catherine early yesterday morning by hiding under a bed as gunmen shot her brother and set fire to her five-bedroom home.
The incident unfolded in the Pleasant Hill community near Bog Walk, leaving 39-year-old mechanic Frederick Ford, dead and several family members visibly shaken.
When The Gleaner visited the scene, the smell of burnt flesh, wood, metal and clothing permeated the air.
Erica Ford, Mr, Ford's younger sister, said the incident occurred around 2:30 a.m.
"I was in the room with my babyfather and the children when I smell (paint) thinner," she said. "Mi wake mi baby- father and go an knock pon Freddy room and him seh 'A mi alone inside here'. Mi den go back inna our room, but before wi move off, wi hear 'Pow! Pow!' like gunshot."
Ms. Ford said that, soon after, the house was engulfed in flames and the police were called. She said she lifted a divan bed and hid under it with all of her children.
Ms. Ford said the neighbours soon arrived on the scene and the men who had set the house ablaze fled.
Wanted to keep party
As she spoke with The Gleaner, some of her children played nearby, apparently unaware of what they had just gone through.
"He wanted to keep a party for several of us who born in January, and now it will never happen as he was shot and burnt to death," said Michelle Harris, a friend of the deceased.
The family told The Gleaner they would be moving from the Pleasant Hill community, as it appeared the attackers wanted to kill them all.
Twelve children and three adults were left homeless by the blaze, which was put out by the Linstead fire department.
The Bog Walk police are investigating the incident.
