A resident of Sebastien Court in downtown St. John’s says neither the police nor the city should’ve been shocked to hear of a homicide in the area.

“This could’ve been avoided, there were numerous calls to the city and the police station. We told them, something bad is gonna happen in this court if someone don’t do something.”

VOCM News is not naming the woman because she honestly fears for her safety. But her frustration with the lack of response to repeated calls for help still trumps all of that.

She’s says there’s a serious, public display of drug use in the area that can’t be ignored, but somehow continues to be.

“When you see the children down there and their heads on the side and their arms waving back and forth, they don’t even know they’re in the world.”

The woman says there is a known drug house in Sebastien Court, with regular lineups, that’s changed the way everyone lives.

Communal barbeques and child’s play have been replaced by quick and careful coming and going and a lot less eye contact.

A 25-year-old Trinity Bay man was the victim of last weekend’s homicide, the third in the general area in the last two years.

The resident, meanwhile, says recent incidents have changed the person she is, and not in a good way,

“As you know children become a product of their environment, now I’m becoming a product of this environment as an adult.”