Slain man said 1-y-o daughter was his only hope
Published:Thursday | September 15, 2022 | 12:10 AM
On Tuesday evening when Ayoka Clarke made dinner for her 26-year-old son, Ricardo ‘Rynel’ Tyrell, she had no idea that she had been preparing his last meal.
Tyrell was shot and killed along Slipe Pen Road hours later.
“Mi just feel like fi go inna wah pool a water and don’t come out,” Clarke told The Gleaner on Wednesday.
Police reports are that at about 2:30 a.m., Tyrell was approached by gunmen who opened fire, hitting him several times. He was assisted to the hospital by a motorist, and was later pronounced dead.
Tyrell, who operated a bar in his community on Clarence Road in Craig Town, also worked as a bookstore clerk.
Described as a family man and peacemaker by his mother, the former Kingston Technical High School student leaves behind a one-year-old daughter.
“Every day him say him daughter a him hope. Him wah give her goals and dreams,” said Clarke as she donned her late son’s clothes.
She said that Tyrell was very hard-working and was respected by members of the community.
“Him father grow him good. Him father make him have everything, but him wah be a man fi work fi him own. Him neva been to a police station; him name never call up a police station. Police dem not even know him,” she said.
A police source said that Tyrell was related to a criminal based overseas.
DEATH THREATS
His mother also shared that the persons responsible for the death of her son had previously made threats on his life.
“Dem send threat fi kill him. Somebody tell mi daughter seh dem a keep meeting pon him name fi kill him,” she said.
Data provided by the Jamaica Constabulary Force show that the Kingston Western Police Division recorded 50 murders as at September 7, a 42.5 per cent decline from 87 during the corresponding period in 2021.
Shootings have fallen by 45 per cent to 47 - 38 fewer than the incidents tallied for the corresponding period last year.
Deputy superintendent of the Kingston Western Police Division, George McFarlane, said the police are maintaining a strong presence in the area.