Double murder rocks Canaan, St James

WESTERN BUREAU:

For the second time this week, crime-plagued St James was hit with a double murder as two men were killed in a brazen attack in Canaan district, in the Adelphi police district, yesterday morning.

The killing of the two men is believed to be an act of reprisal for the death of a 12-year-old schoolgirl, who was shot and injured in the neighbouring Somerton community while travelling as a pillion on a motorcycle.

The two men, who were killed gangland-style, have been identified as 30-year-old Andre ‘Powerman’ Brown and 24-year-old Romaine ‘Riddim Foot’ Melville, who both resided in Canaan district. The injured student, whose identity has not been revealed, is now nursing a gunshot wound in hospital.

According to reports, about 7:30 a.m., the injured student, who resides in the Somerton district, and is a student at the William Knibb High School in Trelawny, was reportedly being transported to school on the motorcycle of a relative when they were ambushed by armed men, who opened gunfire on them.

The student was shot in her upper body while the relative, who jumped from the motorcycle and ran, was not injured. The wounded student was transported to the hospital, where she was admitted in a stable condition.

About 8:30 a.m., while the police were processing the shooting scene, a group of men, who were reportedly armed with M16 assault rifles, travelled via a back road, which leads from Somerton into Canaan, and carried out the fatal attack on Brown and Melville.

According to persons who witnessed that shooting, Melville and Brown were among a group of men standing along the roadway in Canaan when they were approached by the armed men, who turned their guns on them and opened fire, killing them on the spot. The other persons fled in panic.

Melville’s mother, Trishana Henderson, who was at the shooting scene when The Gleaner went to the community, broke down in tears while describing her son as a good person who was in no way a troublemaker.

“Romaine a good somebody, him nuh trouble nobody… him love everybody, him was no troublemaker,” said the tearful mother.

“Him never deserve fi dead suh.”

When contacted for an update on the status of the police’s investigations, Superintendent Eron Samuels, the officer in charge of operations in St James, was reluctant to provide any details, though he was seen at the location.

“I am still on opps (operation) in the area, and I cannot talk right now,” Samuels told The Gleaner. Subsequent efforts to reach him were unsuccessful as he did not respond to calls to his cellular phone.

Since the start of the year, a total of 61 persons have been killed across St James, which has also recorded three double murders over the past 10 days.