Father killed over empty bottles
Published:Thursday | April 23, 2020 | 12:13 AMAndre Williams/Staff Reporter
Dennis Brown Sr lay unresponsive in the lap of his youngest son while he was being transported to The University Hospital of the West Indies on Tuesday evening.
Moments later, the 48-year-old tiler of Grants Pen was dead.
Brown Sr was allegedly killed by another son, who stabbed him repeatedly in a fit of rage over the unauthorised sale of empty bottles.
Residents of the northeast St Andrew community recounted the horror that visited the Oddman Lane home where Brown Sr watched as his 24-year-old attacker used a knife to inflict multiple stab wounds to his body.
Not even the intervention of a respected neighbour could cool the temper of the accused, who allegedly used the ratchet knife to stab Brown Sr twice in the chest.
“The father run out and the son run out after him. Right in front me him stab him ... ,” the resident, who requested anonymity out of security concerns, told The Gleaner yesterday.
“The first time he stabbed him, I held him and pulled him off. When I pull him up now, he turned with the knife to me, and I let him go, and him stab him again.”
The Grants Pen police said that the incident occurred about 7 p.m.
The accused reportedly turned himself in shortly after the incident – the murder weapon allegedly in his hand.
A younger brother, aged 17, reportedly witnessed the incident and ran for his life during the melee, The Gleaner understands.
“After he stabbed Dennis, he ran after his little brother, and I ask them to pass my phone, and I took it up and called the police,” a neighbour said.
Residents said that the accused was often a loner and had a history of disputes over Brown Sr’s bottles.
“The first time it happen, machete draw,” a resident said, recounting a previous row over allegations of bottle theft in January.
One neighbour said that Brown Sr would normally rely on selling bottles when tiling jobs dried up.
“His father’s work is seasonal. You see worse like now, nobody is letting anybody in their homes, and so forth,” the resident said, referring to hygiene sensitivities related to the new coronavirus.
The police communications arm confirmed the reports and informed The Gleaner that a probe was under way.
The St Andrew North police are investigating.