Trilani crash victims named, police seek accountant, and US note ties minister to deportee transit plan

Police have identified three men who died in a three-vehicle collision on the Braco main road in Trilani, St. James, on Wednesday night. The deceased are Javel John and Jamar Johnson, both of Flanker addresses in St. James, and 23-year-old Clinton Douglas of Majestic Gardens, Kingston 11. The crash occurred around 9:00 p.m. and involved a Toyota Hiace, a Toyota Fielder, and a Toyota Voxy. Officers said Johnson was driving the Voxy when the Fielder driver tried to overtake another vehicle, triggering the impact. The Chilani police are investigating.

In Manchester, a man known by the alias Lobster was fatally shot during an early-morning targeted police operation in Benton Town, near New Forest, on Thursday. A police source said a 9 mm pistol was seized after the confrontation. The operation follows Monday’s launch of Operation Reset by Area 3 police, aimed at criminals linked to lottery scamming and violence.

Separately, 19-year-old motorcyclist Andrew Williams of Hatfield, Manchester, died in a two-vehicle crash on the Logwood Muse Road on Tuesday about 4:30 p.m., roughly 300 metres south of its junction with the Hatfield main road. Williams was thrown from his green Simple CG200 motorcycle after colliding with a Honda motor car and was pronounced dead on arrival at hospital.

Road fatality figures show 134 deaths up to 6:00 a.m. Thursday, down from 176 in the same period last year. That tally includes the Trilani deaths and a fatal incident on the Landover main road in St. Ann on Wednesday morning.

The Fraud Squad and Financial Crimes Investigation Division are seeking 38-year-old Gary Bennett, last known at Woodford Park, Kingston 4, over larceny and engaging in a transaction involving criminal property. Police allege that while employed as an accountant between October and December 2024, he fled with more than $2 million. Anyone with information may call 876-922-2374, Crime Stop at 311, or the nearest station.

In Portland, rafters on the Rio Grande at Grant Level found a badly decomposed body on Wednesday believed to be missing 12-year-old Crystal McClean of Bidale, missing since Friday, June 12. Police said she was last seen at home around 7:00 a.m.; a bag with clothing and school books was found nearby. An autopsy will confirm identity and cause of death.

A United States embassy diplomatic note sent to the Jamaican government states that the Minister Without Portfolio with responsibility for efficiency, innovation and digital transformation proposed an arrangement for Jamaica to receive up to 10,000 third-country nationals from the United States. The note says the proposal was made to a US Department of Homeland Security official at the America’s Counter Cartel Conference at US Southern Command in Miami, Florida, on March 5, 2026. Since the plan surfaced Tuesday, the government has denied any agreement for 10,000 nationals to transit Jamaican ports.

National Security Minister Dr. Horace Chang, who is also deputy prime minister, confirmed an MOU exists but said the 10,000 figure is not an agreed quota. At a post-Cabinet briefing Wednesday, he said transferees would transit to home or another country, with up to 25 arriving every two weeks; those wishing to remain must apply for asylum. He added that if ten or more stay beyond 30 days, Washington would pause further transfers, and the programme would halt if all in a batch chose to remain.

Opposition spokesperson on national security Fitz Jackson told Parliament Wednesday that neither the opposition nor the public was properly informed. He demanded the MOU be tabled before implementation. Chang rejected questions about Jamaica’s benefit, calling them irrelevant to bilateral cooperation.