Merciless! - Four slaughtered in Little London massacre

Western Bureau:

Residents of Masemure Meadows in Little London, Westmoreland, woke up to, possibly, their worst fears yesterday morning when they were greeted with the horrifying news that four members of the community - three men and a woman - had been slaughtered gangland-style by invading gunmen who entered the community shortly after midnight.

"A little bit after midnight, I heard several shots coming from near the entrance to the scheme, and then I heard shouting and screaming," said a resident, who asked not to be identified. "I knew right away that the devil was at work and something bad was happening.

"Shortly after the shootings, I heard several motorbikes revving up and riding away. When the place got calm, we went to investigate and found that the doors of all three houses were kicked down and bodies were in all three," continued the resident. "We alerted the police to what was happening."

The four victims, who all suffered multiple gunshot wounds, were identified as brothers, 31-year-old Howard Humes, a taxi operator and musician; and 33-year-old Paulton 'Dwight' Humes, who worked on the overseas farm work programme in Canada. The third man, 23-year-old Shavane Humes, a construction worker, is the nephew of the other two men. The lone female was identified as 25-year-old Keneisha Wilson, a hotel housekeeper and the common-law wife of the older brother.

When The Gleaner visited the community shortly after 9:30 a.m. yesterday, the three one-bedroom houses, which, earlier, had been processed by the police, were all empty. Bits and pieces of crime-scene tape were scattered in the yard. Some residents were standing by the roadway discussing the incident in hushed tones. Many were reluctant to speak to The Gleaner.

"I have been living here for many years, and it is the first time that something like this has happened in this community," said another resident, who refused to discuss a possible motive for the shootings with The Gleaner. "We never expected to have anything like this in our community."

While most residents were seemingly shocked by the incident, Kenneth Wilson, the father of Keneisha (Wilson), seemed to have been aware that something untoward was looming. According to Wilson, he had heard reports that the area was not safe and that the brothers were likely to be targeted by gunmen.

"I heard that threats were being made against the brothers, and I had warned my daughter about going into that area, but she did not listen to me," said Wilson, who openly shed tears for his daughter. "If she had listened to me, she would be sitting at my feet right now."

Wilson's mother, Pheona Malcolm Wilson, also cried openly as she told The Gleaner that just two nights ago, her daughter was in church with her.

"She was a Christian, but she branched away. She was a God-fearing girl who never do anybody anything," said the distraught mother. "May God rescue her soul! She was a good girl."

The Westmoreland police, who have been seeing increasing incidents of murder in the parish this year, said the shooting is under investigation.