On anniversary of murder, pained family hopes for justice

Siblings Ulett Steer and Everton Richards say they will never be able dispel the grief and agony they endure one year after their younger brother was brutally murdered in Lawrence Tavern, St Andrew.

Gradley Richards, who was said to be mentally ill, was found unresponsive in a gully by citizens and police after sustaining a chop wound to his ankle.

Speaking with The Gleaner by telephone from Ontario, Canada, where she has lived since 2002, Steer said the only comfort she has had is in the knowledge that Fitzgerald Hunter is before the court for her brother’s murder. She is hopeful that the Jamaican courts will deliver justice to her family.

Steer argued that Richards was not a violent person yet was brutally murdered.

“The autopsy indicated that Joey was severely beaten, with lacerations all over his body,” Steer lamented, referencing Richards by his nickname. “No one came to his rescue, not even family members who live in Belmont. He was left to bleed out in that gully.”

Steer believes that Richards was begrudged by a faction of relatives who were angry that he had inherited a house when his mother died. She said that one family member even tried to fleece her of J$45,000 in a threat on Richards’ life.

“I did everything for him, including furnishing the three-bedroom house he was living in, make sure he had food, clothing, and money,” she further disclosed,

The family also claims that Richards was a repeat victim of theft.

But the claim of Richards being non-violent is contradicted in a caution statement given by Hunter, a 49-year-old farmer of Belmont district in Lawrence Tavern, who alleged that he was attacked by Richards some time after 7 p.m. on June 4, 2021.

Hunter, who was arrested for Richards’ murder and who has since been granted bail in the sum of $600,000, gave a caution statement to the police describing how Richards attacked him with a machete on the roadway and chopped him on the neck.

He further stated that during a tussle, they fell to the ground and a machete cut Richards close to his ankle.

Hunter had also claimed that Richards pulled a knife, ran and started hurling stones at him, before jumping into a gully.

Senior Superintendent Aaron Fletcher, commander of the St Andrew North Police Division, declined to comment on the specifics of the case, saying he did not want to prejudice the matter, which is before the court..

Jamaica recorded more than 1,463 murders in 2021 and tallies homicides at a rate of 40-60 per 100,000 population annually. Although violent crime is estimated to cost the country four to six per cent of GDP every year, the real toll of the haemorrhage goes deeper than money.

Steer said Richards, a graduate of Oberlin High and the Jamaican-German Automotive School, fell ill at age 21 and never fully recovered up to the time of his death.

“He would call me so very often. We were inseparable while growing up. We would go places together, share laughter, and get into trouble like other children,” Steer said, her voice becoming distant, overwhelmed by sobbing.

She described her deceased sibling as an independent, compassionate, and gentle person who was brought up in a Christian home who always saw the best in others.

Steer said she longed for the days when her brother would call her and express his love.

“I miss hearing him say, ‘I love you, Sis.’ I miss hearing his voice,” she said.

Everton Richards, older brother of the deceased, was a picture of pain as he spoke on the first anniversary of Gradley’s death. He sought solace in a cup of liquor he was consuming.

“Sometimes when mi think how them murder mi brother, mi have to cry,” he told The Gleaner. “Him a mi favourite brother. Them do him bad and we want justice.”

The elder Richards also believes that other family members can offer insight into his brother’s death but have refused to do so.

“We have nuff family living up there (Belmont) and none a dem want to talk. ... It sad, sad, sad. Mi nuh know how mi and mi sister nuh drop down already.”