Early breakthrough in homeless killings
Published:Wednesday | January 27, 2021 | 4:21 AM
There is an early breakthrough in the chilling case of the hacking to death of three homeless men in downtown Kingston.
A fourth homeless man was killed in southern St Andrew.
Two injured homeless men who were found at a Constant Spring Road plaza and on Derrymore Road in the St Andrew Central Police Division are battling for life in hospital.
Prime Minister Andrew Holness, addressing the House of Representatives on Tuesday, said the man who they picked up is a deportee.
Holness said the police, too, had “strong evidence” but cautioned that the investigations were continuing.
There apparently hasn’t yet been a breakthrough in the case involving the fourth death near the Mother White Bridge.
Holness said that while it was previously theorised that the four murders were coordinated, new evidence suggested there were not linked.
“When I saw the news last morning, like all Jamaicans, I was deeply distraught,” the prime minister said.
Holness said it was not the first time that homeless persons have been attacked, recalling how stones were slammed on to the heads of the vulnerable a few years ago.
The prime minister said the police commissioner has assured him that the security forces have increased patrols in areas frequented by the homeless. He also announced new provisions by the Government for their safety and comfort.
“We are now going to provide an additional 100 beds at the Marie Atkinson shelter and at the King Street location. By the end of February, work should commence on another 150 beds,” Holness disclosed.
There are approximately 2,000 homeless people in Jamaica, around a quarter of them, or 500, in downtown Kingston alone.