JLP’s Lennox Hines killed at stop light
Published:Friday | May 27, 2022 | 1:46 AMAndre Williams/Staff Reporter
A high-level probe is under way to determine the motive behind the gun murder of Lennox Hines, Jamaica Labour Party councillor-caretaker for the Southboro division in St Catherine.
The incident occurred shortly after 5 p.m. Thursday along the busy Marcus Garvey Drive in Kingston.
Hines was driving a white Honda CR-V in the company of a female colleague and his daughter when men travelling on a motorcycle opened fire while he waited at the stop light under the bridge at the entrance to the Portmore toll road.
The woman was also shot, but the police theorise that Hines was the target.
His daughter, who is reportedly traumatised, escaped injury and was later released into the custody of her mother.
Senior Superintendent Kirk Ricketts, head of the St Andrew South Police Division, along with several other high-ranking officers, visited the scene.
Ricketts confirmed that the triggermen were after Hines.
“It’s early days, but from all indications, the modus operandi of the perpetrators, we believe the driver was the target,” Ricketts said.
The crime caused a peak-hour gridlock for miles as investigators combed the area for clues.
Hundreds of motorists were inconvenienced as roadways were cordoned and traffic diverted.
The Hunts Bay Criminal Investigation Branch is investigating.
Hines and two co-accused were freed of murder in January 2013 in the Home Circuit Court.
He was held in connection with the August 2007 murder of Oral Livermore, of Portsmouth in Portmore, St Catherine.
Hines was charged with murder, conspiracy to murder, and shooting with intent.
It is reported that during the run-up to the general election, People’s National Party supporters were accused of tearing down JLP posters and flags mounted in the community.
The prosecution led evidence that Hinds hired gunmen to kill Livermore.
It is alleged that on August 15, the victim and other persons were attacked by a group of men travelling in a white motor car.
Three persons, including Mr Livermore, were hit.