Residents flee deadly Maxfield violence
Published:Tuesday | August 24, 2021 | 12:09 AM
Several residents of Bentley Lane off Maxfield Avenue in Kingston have packed their bags as a mini exodus spirals following the murder of two people, including a woman, on Sunday.
The first of three no-movement days offered no deterrent as gangsters pounced upon 56-year-old Paula Raphael on Unity Lane and shot her to death about 11:15 a.m.
Raphael, a shopkeeper, was sweeping her yard when she was killed, The Gleaner understands.
The gunman reportedly escaped on foot.
This killing followed the brutal murder of 51-year-old Courtney Kelly and injury to three other members of his household at 2:30 a.m.
They lived at a house on Bentley Lane.
Gunmen gained access through a window and fired on the family as they slept.
Three members of the family have been hospitalised, with one critical.
It is unclear whether the incidents are linked.
Nobody is safe
That stretch of Maxfield Avenue, as well as the nearby Rose Town community, has been tense for weeks amid several shootings and murders.
A resident said that nobody is safe.
“The war dem a fight nuh normal because woman a dead, man a dead, and don’t be surprised if it reach the pickney dem, ‘cause dem youth yah nah no love inna dem,” the resident, who asked that her identity not be disclosed because of security concerns, told The Gleaner.
“Dem kill young or elderly. Every minute people a move out. Soon bare empty house over deh.”
Second woman killed
Raphael is the second woman to be killed in the area this month. Tashana ‘Munchi’ Roper, 31, was slain on August 4.
Roper, who is from a Denham Town address, was travelling in a taxi when gunmen opened fire, killing her.
Roper was reportedly targeted because of a family member with whom she was travelling, The Gleaner understands.
Investigations into both Sunday killings are ongoing.
Up to August 17, the Kingston Western Police Division has recorded a 23 per cent increase in murders year-on-year.
Shootings have also increased by 34 per cent.
The division recorded 80 murders and 78 shootings up to August 17.