In the af­ter­math of a shock­ing at­tack on a cher­ished Clax­ton Bay shop­keep­er, a com­mu­ni­ty is now fear­ful, cling­ing to hope for di­vine in­ter­ven­tion and jus­tice amidst the chaos.

Neigh­bours said the 68-year-old woman, known fond­ly as Aun­ty Ba­by, re­mained in a se­ri­ous con­di­tion at the San Fer­nan­do Gen­er­al Hos­pi­tal yes­ter­day. She suf­fered a brain bleed, frac­tured ribs and se­vere fa­cial swelling dur­ing the at­tack, leav­ing her in pain, and re­quir­ing oxy­gen and in­tra­venous flu­ids.

The or­deal un­fold­ed around 4.30 am on Fri­day, when neigh­bours heard bang­ing and saw a man kick­ing down the back door of her home. They alert­ed po­lice, who re­spond­ed swift­ly and in­ter­cept­ed a 29-year-old sus­pect wear­ing a ski mask as he tried to es­cape through a neigh­bour’s yard.