DISCOVERY BAY, ST ANN — Tragedy has struck the online community and the streets of Discovery Bay, as popular Jamaican TikToker Derrick Clayton, widely known by his handle “WarCannon”, was gunned down Wednesday night, just four days after laying his 10-year-old daughter to rest.
According to reports, the 35-year-old was ambushed by unknown assailants around 9:10 p.m., moments after exiting a public taxi near his home. He was reportedly shot multiple times in the upper body. Despite efforts to save him, Clayton was pronounced dead at the St Ann’s Bay Hospital shortly after his arrival.
Police have not yet released details on a motive, and no arrests have been made. Clayton’s murder is now under investigation, with detectives treating the case as a targeted killing.
What makes this murder especially chilling is the emotional context: Clayton was still grieving the sudden and traumatic death of his daughter, Jada-Lee, who died from complications following a freak accident earlier this year.
THE FREAK ACCIDENT THAT KILLED HIS DAUGHTER
Jada-Lee’s death occurred after a bizarre and tragic series of events on February 26. The child was walking home from school in Discovery Bay, accompanied by a classmate and the classmate’s mother. A truck, exiting the premises of a hardware store, collided with a Coaster bus, sending a steel object flying into the two young girls.
Though rushed to the hospital, X-rays reportedly showed no serious injuries, and Jada-Lee was discharged with only pain medication. In the days following, her condition deteriorated rapidly. A second hospital visit on March 6 again resulted in her being sent home without a diagnosis.
It wasn’t until March 13, when her mother retrieved her from Discovery Bay and brought her to May Pen Hospital, that she was finally admitted. Jada-Lee died hours later. The cause of death has not yet been publicly confirmed.
WAR AND GRIEF: DEMANDING ANSWERS, THEN SILENCED
In the days after his daughter’s burial, Clayton reportedly used social media to call for accountability from the medical system, expressing frustration and emotional distress over how her condition was handled. Friends say he was spiraling emotionally but remained vocal online.
His sudden and violent death, so soon after Jada-Lee’s funeral, has shocked both the community and the wider Jamaican public. Some users on TikTok and X (formerly Twitter) have pointed to a disturbing pattern of social media influencers being targeted in recent months across the Caribbean and Latin America, though police have not indicated any such link in Clayton’s case.
ONGOING INVESTIGATION
St Ann police are continuing their investigation, and anyone with information is urged to contact Crime Stop at 311 or the nearest police station. As of now, Clayton’s family has asked for privacy as they prepare for a second funeral in less than two weeks.
Our Opinion
This murder not only highlights the fragility of grief but also raises deeper questions about the intersections between digital fame, local crime, and emotional trauma. War Cannon was not just another TikToker he was a father demanding answers, and now, both he and his daughter are gone. The system failed her. Who failed him?