Triple killing ends St James’ murder-free run
Published:Thursday | July 11, 2024 | 12:11 AMAdrian Frater/Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
After a month without any murders, violence returned to St James on Tuesday evening with a triple homicide at a hangout spot across the main road from the Canterbury community in Montego Bay.
The deceased men, who are all from Canterbury (12 ½ Upper King Street), have been identified as 25 year-old Antonio Williams, 17 year-old student Jaydon Bennett, and 62 year-old David West.
According to an alleged eyewitness account, which was also corroborated by the police, at approximately 6:30 p.m., the three men were among a group of people at the popular spot when gunmen pounced on them, firing a barrage of shots.
“I don’t know is how much a dem (gunmen), mi just hear shot start beat and mi run off,” a man, who said he was at the location, told The Gleaner on Wednesday. “When the shooting stop and we go back out there, we realised di man dem get shot up and dead.”
Another alleged eyewitness, who said he saw just one shooter from the spot where he had taken refuge, said that the man ran and jumped into a waiting white motor car, which then sped away.
While gunmen have been wreaking havoc all over St James in recent years, Canterbury – once considered Montego Bay’s most-feared community – had not had a murder in the past six years until Tuesday.
With at least 76 murders since the start of the year, St James leads the nation in murders.
The latest police crime statistics show that, up to July 6, Westmoreland (57) and St Andrew South (51) were the next police divisions with the highest murder figures for 2024.
The national murder toll stood at 602 up to last Saturday, a 14.5 per cent year-on-year decline.