Thu, Jul 2, 2026
Thu, Jul 2, 2026
Linden teacher begged for her life, ex-partner had history of self-harm & meltdowns
Minutes before she was shot and killed in Linden Saturday night, Jenel Pollymore, a young mother of three, begged her ex-partner, from whom she tried to escape, to spare her life.
“She started to beg. She said ‘don’t kill meh.’ He shot the first bullet to her and eventually she start run…but he run behind her and that is where he shot two more times.
“She beg he for she life,” Madonna Pollydore, the dead woman’s step mother said during a Facebook live on Sunday.
Pollydore, 26, was shot and killed while attending a wedding reception at the R & R Hotel located in Central Amelia’s Ward, Linden.
Reports are that Pollydore and suspect, Shaka Phillips had separated after living together due to “constant” abuse she faced and she had obtained a restraining order against him. Phillips is the father of her youngest child.
Madonna related that the situation got tense two weeks ago, a period which saw a culmination of weeks of abuse and police inaction.
According to Madonna, Jenel had ended the relationship, but Phillips refused to let go. Instead, the threats were more with him even attempting to harm himself.
“He threatened to take his own life by throwing gasoline on himself and knocking himself with a hammer in his head,” Pollydore said.
Fearing for Jenel’s safety, they turned to the police for help.
“After she said she wanted out of the relationship, we went to the station because he was getting abusive. He was choking her and things like that,” Madonna said.
Police reportedly advised that a restraining order be taken out. So a date was provided and one was issued for June 22, 2025.
But not long after, Phillips violated the order. “He came here and snatched her phone out of her hand. We went to the station and told them he violated the order. Police said they had no vehicle at the time,” Madonna explained.
Jenel was reluctant to return to the police station, saying she had little faith in the system. “She said that when you go to the station there is no way that these people going to protect you,” Madonna said.
In the days that followed, the suspect continued to terrorize Jenel, lurking around her home, knocking on windows, and trying to force his way in. Madonna said she and her family were forced to change locks to keep him out.
On Saturday night, Jenel had asked her mother to care for her baby so she could attend a wedding. Around 20:00 hrs, she messaged saying she was waiting for a car and would be home shortly.
Enquiries revealed that Phillips journeyed to the hotel in a fit of rage since Pollydore was not answering her phone. Pollydore’s relative, Malika Pollydore, related to the Police that her aunt was standing at the entrance of the hotel when she was approached by the suspect.
Phillips reportedly asked Pollydore why she wasn’t answering her phone. An argument ensued between them, and the suspect reportedly took out a handgun and discharged a round at Pollydore.
The woman then ran to the hotel pool area. Phillips chased after her and discharged two more rounds before escaping.
Minutes later, Pollydore’s phone rang. “I got a call saying ‘Madonna I get shoot.’ Then someone else took the phone and all I hear them saying was, ‘Madonna, come at R & R now, now. Yuh daughter just get shoot,” Madonna recalled.
When she arrived, there was a heavy police presence.
“When she was alive them ain’t coming fah give she the security. When she dead now they guarding she, for what?” Madonna said.
Pollydore described Jenel as someone who always put others first.
“She is a person that would give her heart out for everybody,” she said.
The family is now left grappling with the loss and is hoping that justice would be served.
Phillips was subsequently apprehended by the Police.