The mother of 2003 shooting victim Shaundae Jones yesterday urged Shaki Crockwell's devastated family to fight for justice for their slain loved one.

Marsha Jones is dismayed that nobody has ever been convicted of gunning down her own 20-year-old son at point blank range in Dockyard four years ago.

Yesterday, she passed a message of support to Mr. Crockwell's grief stricken family and urged them never to give up until his murderer is held to account for Friday night's fatal shooting.

Ms Jones, who has worked tirelessly to try to get to the bottom of her son's killing, told The Royal Gazette "Right away, I start thinking about the pain the family go through. It's a long, drawn out, painful process. I hope they have some kind of satisfaction and they get the culprits.

"I'm so, so sorry, but they have to keep on top of things. They have to keep fighting. Until I get my justice, I will continue to speak out.

"You can't bring him back, but at least find who was responsible and let him stand in a court of law. Get up, open your eyes and fight for your children. They are not here to fight for themselves, so you have to do their fighting for them. Somebody does.

"They need to try to get the information they can because not everyone talks to the Police. See what they can find out and pass on to the authorities. Don't give up. Don't sit around and do nothing."

Mr. Crockwell, a 25-year-old national footballer, was shot in the neck and killed on the Railway Trail, Devonshire, before 10.20 p.m. Detectives, who say the victim was unarmed but was wearing a bulletproof vest, have not yet revealed a motive.

Police yesterday said they had received a very encouraging response to calls for help from the public with their murder investigation, but declined to reveal information about any fresh leads.

Ms Jones was off the Island when news spread over the weekend and learned of the killing on her return.

"I just feel so bad for the family. When I heard, I just cried," she said. "They have got to look at his clothes and belongings. One day you are here, the next you are gone and you don't understand why. I will pray for them, they really need it."

Bermuda College student Mr. Jones was shot after he left Club Malabar with friends in a car on April 27, 2003.

The Island suffered one more shooting murder since then, when 18-year-old Jason Lightbourne was killed in Paget last July.

Ms Jones yesterday called for the community to come together to tackle violence and repeated calls to set up a witness protection programme so that fewer people will be discouraged from coming forward for fear of reprisals.

"Wake up Bermuda!" she said. "We have got some serious, serious problems as far as violence goes. This is the third young man executed (shot) in four years. We are too small for that. Who is in charge here? Government?

"When my son was killed, I said I don't think he's going to be the last. Now we have two more. Unless we do something there will be more.

"How many more young men have got to lose their life before we start saying okay, look at this now and change things. They seriously need a witness protection plan.

"This should be investigated as an emergency. All the investigation into BHC, all of that, this is serious stuff. Why can't we have the FBI here for that to get a handle on things?

"People get killed, then they pick up the suspects, then they have to let them go because they've not got enough evidence. People are not willing to go to court. Then they walk away and the family are left behind to suffer.

"Ninety percent of the time, they have a very good idea who the suspect is in these situations.

"As a community, we need to come together and demand that the Police are given the support and experience so we can get a hold of this thing."

Regarding her son, Ms Jones said: "I'm still feeling it every day. They tell me that they are working on it. I'm religious so I don't lose hope, but it seems hopeless. You feel like it's a hopeless situation.

"I just pray sometimes that I will get some kind of resolution to my situation so I can put it to rest."

A Police spokesman yesterday declined to reveal any new information about the investigation into Friday's incident, but on the reaction from the public so far, he said: "We are very, very, very encouraged by the responses but encourage more to come forward."

Mr. Crockwell was wearing jeans and a green hooded top. Anyone with information should telephone Police on 299-4239 or the anonymous Crimestoppers hotline on 1-800-623-8477.