Police yet to make breakthrough in Tabby Diamond murder
Published:Thursday | May 5, 2022 | 12:06 AMAndre Williams/Staff Reporter
THE POLICE say they are yet to make a breakthrough in the March 2022 murder of Mighty Diamonds lead singer Donald ‘Tabby Diamond’ Shaw.
Thirty-six days have passed since Jamaica, and by extension the reggae world, was rocked with news that the ‘Right time Come’ singer was murdered near his McKinley Crescent, St Andrew, home.
Shaw was shot and killed on the night of March 29, in a drive-by attack that claimed the life of another man and caused injures to three others.
The Mighty Diamonds sang “A when the right time come, Lord, some a go charge fe murder”, but at a police monthly press briefing yesterday, Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of crime, Fitz Bailey, gave a less than flattering update.
“No one has been charged and the investigation continues,” DCP Bailey said sharply when the question was posed.
This follows the previous meeting held on April 5 when DCP Bailey said a person of interest has been identified in relation to the killing of reggae legend.
“The investigation is advancing. I don’t want to comment much further on that,” DCP Bailey said then.
The musician, 67, who was of the legendary trio Mighty Diamonds, was among a group seated on the roadway when they came under attack about 9:45 p.m.
They were rushed to hospital by residents where Shaw and a man identified as Owen Beckford were pronounced dead.
Jamaica’s music industry has been left heartbroken and angered by Shaw’s killing.
Commissioner of Police Major General Antony Anderson at the April monthly briefing confirmed that the killing of the reggae artiste is directly linked to his son, who is in custody for murder.
His common-law wife Evanie Henry, however, said she was surprised at the assertion on the part of the police, who has held their son in custody since last May.
The St Andrew South police have been maintaining a presence in the area since the murder.
Meanwhile, the police said there has been a 6.2 per cent decline in major crimes since the start of the year.
Commissioner Anderson said, “In relation to the crime figures, as at April 30: Murders are UP by 1.7 per cent, with gang conflicts accounting for 72 per cent of murders, interpersonal conflicts accounting for 14 per cent, while 7 per cent occurred in furtherance of criminal acts. Mob killings accounted for one per cent and six per cent are still being determined.”