The 36-year-old woman who died along with her two daughters when her car went off the Montagu ramp on Sunday night was "confused, angry and depressed" and had fallen into some bad luck, her relatives said yesterday. They also revealed that Shemicka McKinney had just been kicked out by a cousin she lived with.

Police pulled the bodies of a woman and her daughters, Gabrielle, six, and Alicia, three, out of the water after 10 p.m. Witnesses reported that the car McKinney was driving plunged into the water after going at a very high rate of speed.
Police said yesterday they still could not conclude whether the incident should be classified as a murder-suicide, but family members fear McKinney intentionally killed herself and her children.

As tears rolled down her face yesterday, Alice McKinney admitted her granddaughter had troubles, but said she had been "a very nice person" growing up.

"During her latter years, she became confused," said McKinney, outside her home, off Carmichael Road.

"She went away to college. When she came back, everything in her life had changed. She had the two kids...she fell into some bad luck and she was just going on and on.

"The last time I saw her was Friday afternoon. I never thought I would never see her again. I don't know [anything]. This morning I listened to the 7:30 news and I heard about it, and I said to myself, Lord don't tell me that girl did some stupidness."

Shemicka McKinney's grandmother added, "Nobody knows what I am feeling right now, only the good master knows. To see those two little babies, they were a pride and joy.

"Those two little babies. Man if she wanted to do something foolish, leave those two little kids. Right now, I'm [not well], but he promised never to put more on me that I can bear and I know he will not put more on me than I can bear. My Jesus is there. He is there on the throne.

"Lord, help me to overcome this."

McKinney said her granddaughter always bottled up her problems. She said she never asked for help. The two lived in the same house for several months until Friday, when the cousin kicked her out. That cousin, Paula Davis, said she and McKinney had many problems.

Davis said although they were cousins, they didn't know each other that well. She described her cousin as a stranger and an argumentative person, who was difficult to get along with and was angry with life. Davis said McKinney was having difficulty finding a permanent place to live and although she held a bachelor's degree, she could only find a minimum wage position at a fast food restaurant.

"Me and her fell out and I told her that she had to leave," Davis said. "She was very disrespectful and I couldn't have it in my house."

Asked if she regretted kicking McKinney out, Davis said no.

"I did everything that I could have possibly done for her," she added. "I just saw that it wasn't working. Honestly, I'm just sorry that the kids lost their lives. I'm sorry that she took the children. But if I look back probably if she had stayed, she could've gotten into an argument and then one of my kids might have gotten killed because it was at that stage where she was just argumentative."

Davis claimed that McKinney got into problems everywhere she lived. She said McKinney could have gone to other people, but they would have refused to help her because of her attitude. Davis said she will miss the girls.

Police said autopsies will be performed this week.

Click here to read more at The Nassau Guardian