Halfway Tree robbery kills Prime Trust worker as police step up patrols across Jamaica

A 68-year-old employee of Prime Trust Cambio was killed on Friday, 15 May 2026, during an attempted robbery near Scotia Bank on Halfway Tree Road in St. Andrew.

Lawrence Kesnner, of Cio Gardens, was attacked about 1:20 p.m. after visiting the bank to cash a $10 million cheque for Prime Trust Financial Company. Police said two men—one on foot and one on a motorcycle—tried to take the money as he headed to work nearby. He resisted and was shot. Officers nearby responded quickly and pursued the gunmen, who escaped. The cash was recovered at the scene.

Assistant Commissioner of Police Michael Fibs, who commands Area Four, said the Jamaica Constabulary Force “strongly condemns the brazen act of violence” and pledged sustained high-visibility operations around financial centres. He urged businesses moving large sums to contact police for free escort support and asked the public to stay vigilant near banks and ATMs.

In other news, Jamaican music producer Tandra Yubert Davis, 33, who performs as Country Hype, pleaded guilty in the United States to smuggling goods and delivering a firearm to a common carrier without notice. Court papers in Florida state that on 7 and 8 March 2025 he hid 30 guns, 32 magazines, and more than 100 rounds inside five office chairs shipped on 10 March 2025. Jamaican authorities intercepted the load in Kingston eight days later.

St. Elizabeth police are hunting a suspect after farmer Rcliffe Alco, 61, of White Hall, was fatally cut during a property dispute at a shop in White House Square, Bethlehem, about 3:15 p.m. Friday. St. James man Dane Watson, 31, surrendered on 15 May after relatives helped police arrange his handover; he had been sought since his American wife, Melissa Samoth, 42, of New York, died from injuries found on 29 April at Cornwall Regional Hospital.

Kemar Mitchell, 29, is in custody after turning himself in to Kingston East police over the 9 May stabbing of 13-year-old Chamilia Paul, a seventh-grader at Excelsior High School, during a family dispute at her Arborview, St. Andrew home. A woman died on 8 May after being struck by a truck on the Linstead bypass in St. Catherine, and Portmore businesswoman Chenise Benjamin pleaded guilty to creating public mischief over a false robbery report, with sentencing set for 26 June. Andre Brown, alias “Biggs,” wanted for murder and shooting offences, was captured Friday in St. Ann during a large police operation in which 15 people were detained and more than 20 premises were searched.