MACKEREL MOTHER AND FATHER IN THE STAR

I am heartbroken, says Ladasha’s mother

Sherlette Black says she remains heartbroken as she continues to listen almost helplessly, while her daughter, Internet sensation Ladasha ‘Mackerel’ Francis, accuses her of being an uncaring mother.

In recent interviews, the teenager was moved to tears as she spoke about the emotional scars she received because of her mother. She also claims that her mother never showed her love.

Black, however, said that her daughter’s story is fabricated.

“Mi break down. Words can’t express how I feel because I find myself even shying away from going on the road, and the road is where I make my money. Right now, I am doing damage control although persons who know me are saying that I should not let it bother me. But if only they were in my shoe, they would understand,” she said.

According to Mackerel, she was forced to fend for herself and engage in sexual relationships because she was homeless and had to find a way to survive. She said that after she was thrown out of her mother’s home, she lied about her age so that men would give her a place to live.

NEVER MOTIVATED HER
She added that her mother never motivated her, but would mostly say hurtful things that would break her mentally.

Again, when THE STAR spoke with Black, she denied the accusations.

“She is my only daughter, and if it was true and I did that, I would feel bad and say that it was my duty to take care of her so she has every right to be upset. But all of what she is saying is like a script that she wrote. I keep asking God why he gave her to me for her to hate me. I never do anything except to love her, and all she is doing is resenting me,” Black said.

She said that her daughter is a liar and even accused her father of sexually molesting her when she got pregnant years ago. However, she claims that Mackerel later admitted that she lied.

“She even say her father wasn’t there for her, and nothing nuh go so. Based on the man I know her father to be, I don’t believe it’s true, and he told me it wasn’t true either because we still question her and she said a nuh true. Mackerel was the one who said he touched her and then said it wasn’t true because she didn’t want us to beat her because she ran away,” Black said.

“When she made the accusation, we were all there in front of the police. When I talked to the police, they just quashed the argument that day. I also think they did their own form of analysis that day, so he was not charged or anything,” she added.

Dad says Mackerel’s mom was uncaring


P atrick Francis, the father of 18-year-old Internet sensation Ladasha ‘Mackerel’ Francis, whose claim to fame includes defending her stance about ‘tekking people man’, believes his daughter’s life could have been better if her mother, Sherlette Black, had been more caring.

“The mother board her out at School for the Blind. Mi did really wah have her, but it was like a tug-of-war between her mother and I. So, Sherlette board out the little three-year-old when she should have been living with me,” he said.

During the interview at his Portmore, St Catherine, home yesterday, Francis said that his daughter currently shares a home with him and her stepmother, Lorna Pinnock. However, he said that things weren’t like that during her childhood.

“Ladasha would live with me and get settled, and then her mother would just come and take her back, and the little girl get depressed again. Mi remember one year when school a go give holiday, someone from the school call me to say that I need to come for Ladasha because no one was going to be there. When I asked the lady where her mother was, she tell mi say Sherlette gone a farrin, and she not even call mi and tell mi so mi could go for the little girl. Is after 12, mi go meet Ladasha a bus stop the night to carry her home,” he said.

Like any parent, Francis said he was ripped apart when he found out that his pre-teen daughter was pregnant, but blames Black for not showing Mackerel the love that she was seeking.

ENDED VIOLENTLY
“I found out my baby pregnant when mi go court. During the court session, the judge ask Ladasha how her belly so fat, and Ladasha say is a ‘growth’ she have. Mi did shock and feel a way say she pregnant. Her mother was supposed to be responsible for her when she get pregnant. If my daughter was around me, that wouldn’t happen because Ladasha would be comfortable at home,” he said.

Francis told THE STAR that he has never met the man who impregnated his daughter because meeting him may have ended violently.

“Mi nuh really wah talk with Ladasha babyfather because mi nuh wah go prison. And in reality, it come in like if mi chop off him head a foolishness mi would a do because the little boy a go suffer. He is taking care of the child, but mi never want that for mi baby,” he said.

Francis also rubbished allegations that he had molested his daughter.

“Mi would never ever ‘touch’ my daughter. Mi never hear my daughter say anything like that. To be honest, when the police were talking to us, they never talked to all of us together. They had us in separate rooms. Mi may black and ugly, but mi never short of a lady yet. Mi would never touch my baby, and the little girl never say that,” he said.

Mackerel, who went to the HEART Academy in Stony Hill, St Andrew, said that she has always dreamt of becoming a comedian and plans to get professional training.

And, while she insists that she is ‘tekking people man’, her father believes that it is all an act.

“Ladasha not taking any one man. Mi nuh want no one act like dem wah chat and belittle mi daughter. Mi still don’t believe she a take anyone man. It’s just a slang and a image she a portray. She have to make her own decision because she is an adult. Mi can’t go ‘cow’ her down,” he said.