Cascade residents fearful after 3-y-o, man slain
Published:Friday | April 22, 2022 | 12:10 AMHopeton Bucknor/Gleaner Writer
Residents of Hilloughby district in Cascade, Hanover, have expressed concern over their safety, following the murder of two persons, including a three-year-old boy, and the shooting and injuring of another male on Wednesday night.
The slain child has been identified as Kamoill Williams, while the other deceased was identified as 27-year-old Tavares Stevens, otherwise called ‘T’, both of Hilloughby district.
Noting that the shooting took place in the proximity of two churches, the concerned residents said that they no longer feel safe in their own community.
“Is a shame and disgrace,” one elderly woman, who gave her name as Dorothy, told The Gleaner.
“Nobody don’t feel safe again. Dem things yah never happen inna Cascade, especially weh dem come a kill little baby.
“You don’t see how the street deserted? Everybody gone hide; everybody ‘fraid. Nobody nuh feel safe again,” the elderly woman pointed out.
She expressed concern that shops could begin to close at dusk and residents may even be too fearful to venture out to attend church services.
The woman, who said she was born and raised in Cascade, told our news team that she was familiar with the slain victims and their families, adding that it was a clear case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Reports by the Lucea police are that about 7:10 p.m., Stevens, the child, and the other injured male were among a group of persons at a makeshift shop in Hilloughby community when a Toyota Axio motor car drove to the area.
It is further reported that the occupants of the vehicle rolled down the windows and opened fire.
The gunmen sped away from the scene in the vehicle and made their escape.
Residents rushed the three injured victims to hospital, where Stevens was pronounced dead, and young Kamoill later succumbed to injuries after being admitted to intensive care.
A senior investigator from the parish told The Gleaner that investigators believe the shooting could be an act of reprisal stemming from a shooting that occurred in the community last month when another male resident was also injured.
The officer said that the police have received a number of leads and expect to make a breakthrough by this weekend.
Since the start of the year, 15 persons have been murdered in the parish of Hanover.