15-year-old charged for murder of six-year-old cousin

Western Bureau:

The 15-year-old boy, who allegedly shot and killed his six-year-old cousin on Monday in a bizarre shooting incident in a yard on Dalling Street, Savanna-la-Mar, Westmoreland, was formally slapped with a murder charge late Thursday afternoon.

Deputy Superintendent Adrian Hamilton, the officer in charge of operations in Westmoreland, told The Gleaner that the teenager, who fled the scene in the aftermath of the shooting, surrendered at the Freeport Police Station in Montego Bay on Wednesday, accompanied by a lawyer.

However, while the youngster, who is a high school dropout, has surrendered the gun he allegedly used in the fatal incident has not been located, as the accused has flatly refused to provide the police with any information about the whereabouts of the weapon.

“The boy only turned himself over to the police with his lawyer, but has refrained from giving up the murder weapon,” Hamilton told The Gleaner. “The police have received leads as to where he might have been hiding shortly after he committed the murder and that particular location, and a particular individual have since been placed under the police radar.”

Reports are that shortly after 2:30 p.m. on Monday, the accused was in a yard at 105 Dalling Street playing with an Illegal gun when a shot rang out and the six-year-old, identified as Jadaine Miller, fell to the ground with a bullet wound to his upper back.

The alleged shooter fled the scene while Jadaine was rushed to the Savanna-la-Mar Hospital by his uncle. He was pronounced dead on arrival.

A relative of the accused boy told The Gleaner that the youngster has had a troublesome history and was not under parental control. He reportedly dropped out of the Grange Hill High School based on behavioural issues.

“His father works on a farm in another section of the parish and does not come home regularly, while his mother left the community some time ago, and did not return,” the relative said.

Hamilton told The Gleaner that since the start of the year, 17 juveniles have been arrested for crimes such as abduction, rape, grevious sexual assault, assault at common law and illegal possession of firearm and ammunition.

“Poor and non-existent support systems and structures, as well as bad parenting, and what you have is a toxic combination that have significantly contributed to the loss of lives for many residents and citizens of Westmoreland,” said Hamilton.