The scenes from a shoot-out between police and alleged murderers, fresh from a caper, played out on phones all over the island, turning the intersection of Trafalgar, Hope and Waterloo roads into something from a movie. However, the grief of a mother displayed on the pages of The Gleaner brings us back from that surreal imagery to the stark reality of the loss that crime creates.  

Published May 14, 2021

‘I can’t afford any more deaths’

Fletcher’s mother keen on selling real estate after losing third relative

THE 85-YEAR-OLD mother of businessman Robert Fletcher, who was killed at his Old Hope Road sports bar in St Andrew on Monday, said she has refrained from visiting the location ever since her husband was murdered there.

Now, Pearl Fletcher’s immediate intention is to redouble efforts to rid herself of the piece of real estate that has caused her great pain for years.

“My daughter said I better sell that place there. She down on me say she can’t afford to lose any more family members. I can’t afford any more [deaths],” the grieving mom told The Gleaner.

Her late son, she said, was her knight in shining armour who would do everything for her.

“It kind of rough, you know. If he was sick, I would understand that him was sick, but he wasn’t sick,” she said in a sombre tone.

Mrs Fletcher said her last encounter with the last of seven children will be lasting as he stocked her up on groceries.

“He was everything; he was my right hand. Trust me, I lost a dear son,” she said.

Robert’s death took the senior right down memory lane to the time when his father was shot and killed by gunmen on March 12, 1989.

“Same place down that building there … I just gave Robert the benefit to stay down there and help himself, but I never expect this for him,” Mrs Fletcher said.

In 2011, the family lost another relative, Martin Fletcher, at the same location

She is relying on her daughter, with whom Robert shared an inseparable bond, to visit Jamaica to assist with burial arrangements and pertinent business.

Mrs Fletcher is saddened that her son will not get to live in his unfinished Jack’s Hill home, which he was building on a plot of land she bought him years ago, adding that she was unaware if her son’s life was being threatened.

“I know down there is a crime area, very much a crime area,” she said, noting that this could have caused hiccups in landing a sale for the property.

Ever since her son started his business, she relaxed plans to put it up for sale.

“I just wanted him to help himself and him help me. When him get the rent, him bring it to Mommy. We have a great mother and son relationship,” she said.

Two of Fletcher’s suspected attackers were cut down within minutes by the police on Trafalgar Road. They have been identified as Ricardo Green of a Swallowfield address and a man known only as ‘Ramone’ of a De La Vega City address in Spanish Town.

A third suspect is believed to have escaped.

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