Markland Campbell’s life was celebrated before family and friends laid him to rest Saturday afternoon.
With family fighting back tears, Campbell was honoured in front of hundreds of loved ones inside Bethel Pentecostal Church in Nepean. The 2-hour ceremony concluded with a prayer for Campbell’s family by Deacon Colton Brown; nearly one month after Campbell was gunned down along George Street and ByWard Market Square. Campbell died at the age of 42 in the early morning hours of June 8.
“I love you so much,” said Campbell’s daughter, Reanna Watson, “Later, daddy.”
Campbell died after police say he was shot following a disturbance in the ByWard Market around 10pm June 7. Campbell, friends said, came to the aid of his daughter after she told her father she had been assaulted by two young men. Within minutes of Campbell’s arrival, he had been shot before finally collapsing a block away on the sidewalk along York Street.
“We were each other's protector,” said his sister Desrine. “But we protected each other, differently, in different ways. He was my guard.”
Campbell was part of Ottawa hip-hop ground Half Size Giants; they were friends from high school, dedicated to producing music with a message of peace and love. Half Size Giants said Campbell, who was born in Jamaica, was Rastafarian and did not believe in violence. He was unarmed, they said, when he was shot and killed.
“He sacrificed himself for his cause,” said Christopher Wiens of Half Size Giants.
Campbell’s death came days before the scheduled release of the group’s newest song and music video, Girl U Know featuring Canadian artist Danny Fernandes. Wiens and HSG group member William Moreno served as pallbearers.
“To put him in that car and knowing that is the last time I will feel him beside us is very tough,” said Moreno, who moved from Mexico as a youngster and met Campbell and Wiens in high school before founding the group.
18-year-old Don Musselman was arrested and charged with second-degree-murder. Campbell's friends said Jahiant's life was taken, but not his dignity.
“He died a man, living, serving the principles that he held dear to his heart,” said Wiens.
Campbell was buried at Dale Cemetery on Old Montreal Road.
