Sun | Dec 22, 2024

Former banker killed on way to church

Businesswoman gunned down in Sunday morning attack

Published:Monday | November 11, 2024 | 12:10 AMJanet Silvera/Senior Gleaner Writer
Althea Graham-Dolly
Althea Graham-Dolly

WESTERN BUREAU:

Althea Graham-Dolly rested her Bible on a chair, and having donned her hat in preparing to head off to church, was turning back to retrieve something when gunmen, who had been travelling in a motor car, attacked and shot her several times Sunday morning.

The Montego Bay businesswoman, a former banker, was killed at her Bogue Village home. She was 52 years old.

Graham-Dolly had just returned to school to study law, a dream she had had over the years.

After her murder yesterday, her church family described her as a faithful member who revelled in music.

“She always wore broad-brimmed hats to church. You would see her rocking to the music, the hat swaying with her every move. She loved the steel pan and started learning. She was a solid member,” said Lisa Watt, rector’s warden at the St James Parish Church, where Graham-Dolly worshipped.

Watt said the parish church was divided into 17 clusters, and she was a part of the Bogue cluster. Two days earlier, they had a conversation about fundraising efforts for the steel pan group, she added.

According to Watt, Graham-Dolly, who reared her only child in the church, wanted the best out of life, and to hear of her senseless killing was extremely sad.

“This one has really rocked us,” Watt admitted, remembering the former banker’s vibrancy.

For her, the age group of members that Graham-Dolly represented in their congregation was an important one.

The businesswoman’s death has sent shock waves throughout the city of Montego Bay, with speculation circulating that she was marked for death.

Early years

Graham-Dolly grew up in Westmoreland and attended Manning’s School. She studied at the University of Technology, where she earned an MBA, and earlier, she did her undergraduate in Business Administration at the University College of the Caribbean.

In her early years, she worked at Victoria Mutual as a branch secretary before joining Sagicor Bank, where her last position was personal banker. She also spent time at Pan Caribbean Financial Services Ltd, where in 2009, she was named team member of the year.

According to reports from the police, about 7:30 Sunday morning, loud explosions woke the usually safe community. The police were called, and on arrival, saw Graham-Dolly’s body lying face down in a pool of blood. She had been shot in the upper body and head.

Efforts to get an update from the Police High Command up to press time proved unsuccessful.

janet.silvera@gleanerjm.com