Marked for death?
Sunlight Street family in fear as gangsters kill elderly man in latest attack
Published:Wednesday | January 4, 2023 | 1:31 AMAndre Williams/Staff Reporter
A toddler who survived a gunshot wound to her head in 2021 is again living in the cross hairs of gangsters, who reportedly killed her great-grandfather on New Year’s Day, allegedly on a mission to wipe out the entire family.
It is believed that a wanted relative is the reason for repeated deadly attacks on the Sunlight Street, Kingston 13, family.
A gang conflict in the community has kept investigators in the Kingston Western Police Division busy for years with frequent lists released of wanted persons and persons of interest. However, despite entering a new year, no ceasefire appears to be on the horizon.
Gunman struck about 7:30 a.m. on January 1, killing 74-year-old Rastafarian Keith ‘Chinny Dread’ Davis.
Like the child who survived the July 11, 2021 head wound, Davis is related to Shadane ‘Phillipines’ McKenzie, a regular feature on the division’s most wanted list.
For years, the police have been trying to apprehend McKenzie, who remains elusive, while a reign of terror haunts his relatives in the crime-torn community.
On Tuesday, Davis’ daughter told The Gleaner that they got up early on Sunday morning and she was sweeping their yard shortly before tragedy struck.
“Him say, ‘When you done, lend mi the broom’ … . I gave him the broom and go inside, and mi hear a car come down and mi hear bare gunshot. When mi look, mi a say a police, and him a say a nuh police because dem a fire bare shot,” she recalled, adding that they then crouched for safety.
She said that one of the gunmen fired his weapon into their yard as Davis attempted to make his way inside for cover. He was shot in the stomach and fell in front of her.
“Mi [couldn’t] help mi father because gunshot a fire. Mi bend down a my door and mi father drop and a look pon mi so,” she said, trying to fight back the tears.
Their yard is sectionally concrete fenced, but bullets managed to penetrate the zinc portion of the perimeter fencing.
“Things a gwan in a the area between the front (Sunlight Street) and the back (Sunlight Street) and Zimbabwe. So the front connect with Zim and we ina the middle so dem say dem a give we a drive-by for the new year … . Dem say dem affi kill out Shadane family,” the relative explained.
The Gleaner was told that on the infant’s second birthday in 2021, while returning to the community, the car they were travelling in was held up by armed men.
The vehicle was allowed to continue its journey after the hoodlums realised that only women and children were on board.
“They came the Saturday before (New Year’s Eve) and fire whole heap of shot, but dem nuh get nobody to kill, so dem come back New Year’s morning and dem get somebody,” a resident of the community theorised.
Davis is the father of seven adult children, who now cower in fear as they only know Sunlight Street as home.
“Dem come a shot mi granddaughter and now dem tek mi father. Dem say dem nah stop til dem wipe out the whole of we here so. To how the road split in a two, ya so can’t go round so,” Davis’ daughter told The Gleaner.
On Tuesday, the police conducted an operation in the area and apprehended several men from both sections of the community.
There were reports of police brutality as a mother alleged that she was pepper-sprayed while the police tried to lock her son inside his room during a search.
Another woman said that a policeman struck her with his rifle, causing a wound on her left hand.
The Independent Commission of Investigations has been notified of the allegations.
Residents on both sides of the divide have accused the cops of picking sides, but a senior officer refuted the claims, telling The Gleaner that men from both sides were in custody and were being processed.
The Kingston West Police Division recorded a 30 per cent decline in murders in 2022.
The latest police statistics show that 76 people were killed last year, compared to 109 in 2021.
The national murder toll for 2022 is 1,498, the preliminary figures indicate, a two per cent increase year-on-year.
The 2021 murder toll was also updated to 1,474, some 11 more than the police reported previously.
Inspector Shaunjaye Mitchell of the police’s information arm told The Gleaner that ongoing investigations from incidents in 2021 resulted in the new data.
“Based on investigation, we have some incidents that have been upgraded to murder … . That would explain the discrepancy between the figures,” he said, noting that the figures are usually preliminary and could later increase or decrease as investigations take shape.