Double killings rattle Kingston Western
Published:Wednesday | January 27, 2021 | 4:21 AMNadine Wilson-Harris and André Williams/Gleaner Writers
The Kingston Western Police Division has been rocked by two double killings within a 12-hour window on Monday, triggering fear in the violence-plagued area.
The saga surrounds two men who were killed on Collie Smith Drive after reporting to the police on condition of their bail and the subsequent murder of siblings on Penn Street in Jones Town.
Blood stained a street in Arnett Gardens on Monday, where Tarique Montague and Steven Beckles were murdered.
A taxi operator was injured after the car they were travelling in was sprayed by bullets.
The cabbie remains hospitalised.
Marjorie Thompson said that Beckles, her 23-year-old son, and Montague were on their way from the Trench Town Police Station shortly after five o’clock Monday evening and were fired on as they reached Ninth Street.
Beckles, who was on a murder charge, visited that police station every day as part of his bail requirements.
“As him drive off, them block the car deh so a Ninth Street,” said Thompson.
The mother, who was on a nearby field at the time, said she heard the explosions. Beckles was shot multiple times.
Thompson alleges that her son had been shot by the police in the past.
The woman said that her son, the second of five children, was mannerable and would sometimes spend time teaching children in the gritty inner-city community.
Arnett Gardens and surrounding communities have been plagued by a spate of killings in recent weeks. Fearful of being the next victim, Thompson refused to go to the House of Tranquility funeral home on Monday morning to identify the corpse.
Scene-of-crime detectives were summoned four hours later to Penn Street in Jones Town, where the lives of a brother and sister were snuffed out by armed thugs.
They have since been identified as 24-year-old Ginel Thomas and 29-year-old Omar Jarrett.
Reports are that gunmen entered the dwelling and opened fire, killing both Thomas and Jarrett on the spot.
Glendon Thomas said that he cried on learning of the horrific death of his daughter and stepson.
He has now lost three daughters, two of whom died by the gun.
“Mi nuh sleep last night and mi nuh eat. Mi just cry and done … ,” said Thomas.
“I go in there go see my daughter lay down on her face and her face mash up. Omar was right beside her on the ground.”
Fifteen spent casings were reportedly collected by the police.
Thomas said that Jarrett worked in the junkyard, did odd jobs, and loved to cook.