Three more murders rock the west

Western Bureau:

Western Jamaica, the nation's undisputed murder capital, woke up to more carnage yesterday with the murder of three persons in separate shooting incidents in St Elizabeth and Westmoreland.

Those killed have been identified as 70-year-old Reynold ‘Jaggy’ Madden, of Water Lily Lane in George’s Plain, in Westmoreland; and 62-year-old Sharan Calder and her 53-year-old common-law husband Richard Foster, of Mango Walk Lane in Mountain Side, St Elizabeth. In the incident in Westmoreland, Madden’s 53-year-old wife was shot and seriously injured.

According to reports, Madden, a well-known taxi-operator, was at home with family members when a motorcycle pulled up at their gate. A man reportedly alighted and began walking towards their front door. As he got close, the man pulled a firearm from his waistband and began firing. Madden and his wife, who were inside their bedroom, were shot multiple times.

When the shooting subsided and the shooter fled the location, family members rushed the Maddens to hospital, where the husband was pronounced dead and the wife admitted in serious conditions with what is believed to be life-threating injuries.

“I don’t think Mr Madden and his wife were who they were after...I believe the target was another younger family member,” a resident of the community told The Gleaner yesterday.

“Westmoreland gone to the dogs. The young people have taken up fast lane lifestyle and once they become the target of their enemies, their families also become a target.”

Since the start of the year, Westmoreland has been under a criminal siege, sparked by a bloody turf war between the Grange Hill based King Valley gang and the Ants Possess gang, which have spread their murderous tentacles all over the parish. Both gangs are said to be enticing school-age youngsters with their extravagant lifestyle, which is funded by lottery scamming other criminal activities.

In incidents recorded to date in Westmoreland this year, two other couples were attacked by gunmen. In early June, a couple was attacked at their Negril home and shot multiple times; and on June 19, 56-year-old Marlene Daley-Hall and her husband Kirk Hall were shot dead at their Jamba Hill home in Whithorn, Westmoreland. Their house was set ablaze with their bodies inside.

COMMUNITY NOT KNOWN FOR VIOLENCE

In the St Elizabeth incident, which occurred about 3:45 a.m. yesterday, Calder, a craft vendor who operates in Montego Bay, St. James; and her spouse were walking from their home towards the Mountain Side square, where she was supposed to get transportation to take her to Montego Bay, when they came under attack.

“The common-law spouse was assisting her out when gunshots were heard,” said Superintendent Coleridge Minto, the police commander for St Elizabeth.

“Residents stumbled upon the body and summon the police. On arrival at the scene, we found the lifeless body of the lady in the middle of the road with her face down. The gentleman was found some distance away in the bushes.”

According to Minto, the shooting came as a big surprise to the police because Mountain Side is viewed as one of the more peaceful communities in the parish, where residents co-exist peacefully.

“This is a community that is not known for violence. In fact, we have not had any major crimes in this community for well over a year, and so the residents of this area are very concerned and certainly not accustomed to this type of incident in this space,” said Minto.

Efforts to get the up-to-date murder statistics for Westmoreland and St Elizabeth since the start of the year were unsuccessful but in terms of the national figure, up to August 3, the count was at 692.

adrian.frater@gleanerjm.com