Mentally ill man gets 15 years for chop killing of toddler in St. Mary

A mentally ill man has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for chopping three-year-old Asha Campbell to death in St. Mary in 2024, reopening pain in the Pagey community of Port Maria where the child was killed and six other people were injured.

Among those wounded was the boy’s mother, Phillipa Walker, who suffered chop injuries while trying to stop the assault. She says a much longer term would have better matched the loss of her son’s life.

“They don't want to give him like 35 years. That's when him come out. Him can't stand up for kill nobody. And me son life would not worth 15 years. It worth more than 15 years,” Walker said.

She added that relatives and others hurt in the attack continue to live with serious after-effects, including brain trauma among some of the victims, and she contrasted the gravity of their injuries with far shorter outcomes she believes those harms deserved.

Still, she accepts that a prison term is preferable to no punishment at all.

“Although me did not wish that they would give him 35 years. Me still thank them for the 15 years because it better than none,” she said.

Walker described how ordinary moments still overwhelm her. She recalled a young girl calling out to her while she swept her shop, a greeting that flooded her with memories of her baby and left her unable to hold herself together once the girl had gone.

Resident David Woah, who was also injured in the attack, said he does not believe justice was done. Walker said the child’s father has likewise been struggling under the weight of the loss.

Two years on from the killing, Pagey remains marked by the memory of the violence that took the toddler’s life and left several neighbours nursing lasting wounds.