‘The way how him dead mi caa even bawl’

THE FATHER of one of two men shot and killed by policemen yesterday following a brazen deadly attack on a labourer on Orange Street, in downtown Kingston, said he will not be shedding any tears over his demise, as he had warned him daily to be careful of the company that he was keeping.

Marcus Jervis, who spoke with a heavy heart, said he knew that his only son was involved with criminals and encouraged him to change his company, but he refused to listen.

“Him naa hear, mi say leave dem man deh alone, yuh know wa him say to mi the last time mi tell him, ‘Daddy and mummy mi caa tell unuh wa fren fi keep’. Dat him say and wen him tell mi cold bump wash mi,” he told The Gleaner outside his home, noting that he last warned his son a day before he died.

“A wa day mi tell my son say anything you a do a road, you must get caught.

“And from mi see my son a walk with certain man out deh mi can expect anything to happen, so is not a grief mi ago have fi bawl, and the way how him dead you caa even bawl, wey yuh ago bawl say? Because which part him dead and the situation you caa say a di police wrong, a him totally wrong so why mi ago cry and say him innocent?” Jervis added.

Nicholas Jervis, said to be about 23, and another man whose identity has not yet been ascertained were killed by police during an alleged shootout, following the daring daylight murder of Craig Johnson, otherwise called ‘Big Head’.

Nicholas, who lived on his own on High Holborn Street in downtown Kingston, made beds to earn a living.

Head of the Kingston Central Police, Superintendent Beresford Williams, said based on reports received, “About 10 a.m., a car with four men shot and killed one man along Orange Street. Whilst the men were making their escape, they engaged a group of policemen who were further along Orange Street in the vicinity of the Tranquillity Funeral Home.”

A shootout reportedly ensued, during which a policeman was shot and injured, along with two of the occupants of the car.

The car subsequently crashed into a utility post in front of the York Park Fire Station and the two injured men were rushed to the Kingston Public Hospital where they were pronounced dead, Williams further shared

The policeman, whose injury is not life-threatening, was still receiving treatment up to news time.

An illegal weapon with two magazines was reportedly taken from the car.

Marcus, who spoke with The Gleaner hours after the incident, said that while his son’s death has no doubt pained his heart, he will not be going to identify his body.

“Mi naa lie to you, if yuh lick head wid a man wey mix up inna crime, you can do the same ting to, suh mi nuh put nothing pass him, mi naa go say him innocent,” he said.

“Mi did tell him say if yuh ded mi naa come look over you body because mi did a warn you, suh yuh caa say mi neva a warn you,” Marcus said,

He said he had also discussed the matter with his wife and made it clear to her that she will be the one who will be going to identify his body.

When asked how his wife was coping with the loss of her only son, he said he called her at work and broke the sad news to her but she sent a message saying she “nuh waa hear no bawling wen she come”, as she too had warned him repeatedly.

The father of three children said he and his wife had tried their best with their son and tried to grow him up in the right way but he preferred to listen to his friends.

Additionally, he said living in the ghetto was to blame, as it’s hard for some individuals to ignore the influences in the environment and chart their own righteous course.

“Ghetto means you affi get out,” he said.

In the meanwhile, Superintendent Williams said the investigation into Johnson’s murder was at an early stage and he was unable to provide much detail pertaining to the identity of the other deceased man and his cronies, or a possible motive for the shooting.

The Independent Commission of Investigations (INDECOM) has also launched an investigation into the double fatality.

tanesha.mundle@gleanerjm.com