Sandra Risden, a paralegal, was fatally shot in a brazen attack in St Andrew, with investigators considering the possibility of a targeted killing by hired assailants. The assailants, two men on a motorcycle, managed to escape after an off-duty police officer confronted them following the shooting. While investigators are exploring multiple theories, including a family dispute, Deputy Police Commissioner Fitz Bailey emphasised the early stages of the investigation.

Death of paralegal leaves void at law firm after Washington Boulevard gun attack

Jamaica Gleaner/19 Jan 2024/Livern Barrett/ Senior Staff Reporter 

SANDRA RISDEN, the paralegal who was shot to death in a brazen early morning attack in St Andrew yesterday, has been described as an honest and diligent colleague as police investigators theorise that she was targeted by hired killers.

Investigators disclosed, too, that Risden’s killers, described as two men travelling on a motorcycle, were challenged by an off-duty cop moments after they sprayed her car with bullets but still managed to escape.

Deputy Police Commissioner Fitz Bailey said a widely circulated claim that Risden’s slaying was linked to a family dispute is among several theories that investigators are probing.

“It’s early days, so it’s hard for us to come to any conclusive motive until we pursue certain lines of investigation,” Bailey told The Gleaner yesterday.

Risden was trailed until her vehicle came to a stop on Washington Boulevard when the two armed thugs pulled up beside her on a motorcycle and shot her multiple times, police sources disclosed.

“All indications suggest that this was a hit,” said one investigator.

Patrick Foster, KC, senior partner at Nunes, Scholefield & DeLeon, the law firm where Risden was employed, said “from the information we have” the killing “had nothing to do with the work that she was doing for the firm”.

News of Risden’s death cast a pall of gloom over the St Andrew offices of the law firm, where she was employed for nearly 36 years.

Foster described the mood among employees there as “extremely sombre”.

“People were crying. We had to close the office early, and we have brought in grief counsellors to deal with the emotional challenges of the staff. They are actually coming back tomorrow [today],”Foster said.

He described Risden – one of the firm’s senior paralegals – as an “extremely competent and hard-working” employee.

“Her death has left a void in the firm because she related extremely well to staff at all levels – warm and engaging personality – so it’s quite a loss, both on a personal and a professional level,” Foster said.

The main Opposition People’s National Party condemned the killing and expressed “profound concern” over what it said was the increasing number of incidents of violence against women and girls and cited an incident involving one of their local representatives, Councillor Patricia Harris, as an example.

Denise Daley, the opposition spokesperson on gender affairs, said such “calculatedly callous acts” have no place in the society and suggested that urgent and decisive actions are needed.

Daley said the entire society must stand united against these egregious acts. “We must do more to protect the lives and dignity of women,” she said.

“Violence against women, whether in the workplace, public or private spaces, is an affront to our values and a threat to the safety of our citizens.”

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