Tonight, Notorious street figure Jervis Diamond Valencia has been shot yet again, for the fifth time in 8 years. This time it was a shot to the leg that happened in front of La Popular on Logwood Street. It happened while Valencia and others were leaving the area after attending LIU training.
And while he's alive tonight it's another near miss that he's been lucky enough to survive. Cherisse Halsall spoke to him just 90 minutes before he was shot and she has this story:
LIU participants were in fine form this morning ready to kick off their Agricultural program and get ready to work on the land in Grace Bank.
One of the men is Jervis Valencia, a veteran of the streets who has survived many many attempts on his life, spoke to us about feeding themselves and getting a fresh start:
Jervis Diamond, Training To Be A Farmer
"We just have to adapt to it and try to make the crop no get spoiled, you know, make the crop come out the best and people say that our hands are good hands when it comes to growing."
"Very excited to go on the farm and do something constructive and teach the youths and have the youths try to follow up what we are doing, to do something positive with themselves and grow their food so that they can send food for their families, you know, and have everybody see that we could be somebody different and do something different in life."
But the same thing happened to Jervis Valencia two hours later, less than half a mile away where he was shot again for at least the fifth time in the past 8 years.
The injury this time is only to his foot and he survived. But this construction worker almost inadvertently lost his life when the mob looking for the shooter clubbed him across his head in an alley off Sarstoon. We caught up with him at the KHMH
Voice Of: Construction Worker
"Yeah well I, I went to the shop to go and buy sugar and thing and it's like I, I saw a lot of gunshots bursting, one man dropped, the next three men were running, the young bwoy holler run OG, run because they will shoot you too. So, I was trying to get out of bullet's way too. So, when I ran down the lane, some other young boy came from across a fence and thing, one had a shovel and the other one, um, he didn't have anything so he punched me. So, I ducked under the punch and then the other one swung the shovel at the same time and gave me a whop in my head so but they tried to knock me out, you dig but I fought that because some more people were coming, you dig. So, I didn't really have time to try to get knocked out and thing, you dig cause they might have slaughtered me right there dig."
"We started to dash hand. I started to throw my hand because I didn't really want anything to happen to me and thing you dig, one of them managed to whop me in my head but I didn't go down. I just felt dizzy and thing but I fought it. Bally say Bally say: It wa you who kill my Bally, It was you who killed my Bally, I don't even know you, I don't even know what you're talking about, I don't know any of you, I'm not in you all's mix up none at all, I no even know you, I'm just going to buy sugar, you dig. I live in Burrell Boom."
Diamond Valencia remains in a stable condition
A 16-year-old and a 49-year-old man have been detained.
In a statement to 7News Jervis's wife says she hopes that those men turn their life over to God. She also told us that Jervis is only alive because he has people that believe in him and pray for him.
