Five of six murdered in Logwood buried
Published:Sunday | January 31, 2016 | 12:00 AM
WESTERN BUREAU:
Five of the six family members who were murdered by gunmen at Campbelton Road in Logwood, Hanover, last October were buried yesterday.
Scores of community members turned out for the funeral at the nearby March Town Seventh-day Adventist Church for 62-year-old Lynette Bloomfield; her son, 40-year-old Mark Bloomfield; daughter, Kerrian Bloomfield, and her children, 17-year-old Alia Mahabee and 15-year-old Davian Mahabee.
The other deceased, Brian Mangaroo, will be buried at a later date.
The six perished after gunmen torched their home and opened fire on them and four other persons on the night of October 9 last year.
Glen O. Samuels, president of the West Jamaica Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, who was among the officials at the funeral, called for what he said was a caring, more loving society and for citizens to give no "shelter to criminals".
SOCIETY LACKING FEELINGS
"This is my third time standing in a church with five caskets before me - and on every occasion, the persons (were) cut down at the hands of cold, calculatingly cruel men," Samuels said.
"The question is raised everywhere: What has gone wrong? What is happening to us? We have become a society devoid of feeling."
Added Samuels: "This is a wake-up call, not only for Hanover, but for the 14 parishes ... . Those who benefit from the fruits of crime must know that tomorrow your own blood may be spilled. Those who hide behind the curtains, seeing no evil, hearing no evil and speaking no evil, must know that together, you are responsible ... . We must stand together and say our paradise must give no shelter to murdering parasites."
Member of Parliament Ian Hayles called for the resumption of hanging. He also urged those in attendance to tell what they know to the police.
"I have voted for the resumption of hanging twice, in Parliament ... . We must start dealing with murderers the way we ought to do in this country," Hayles said.
"The only thing standing between me, you and the criminals is the police. And if you have information about anything, there must be somebody in the police [force] that you trust to give the information," he urged.