Westmoreland police probe killings, firearm threats and sex offence as Jamaica marks Eventide remembrance

Jamaican police have laid charges and opened investigations in several serious incidents reported in Hanover and Westmoreland, including a stabbing, an alleged firearm threat, a sex offence case involving a child, and the chopping death of a tractor operator.

In Hanover, 63-year-old shopkeeper Hubert Christie, of Georgia district in Cascade, has been charged with wounding after allegedly stabbing his 55-year-old brother in the neck during an argument in Cascade Square about 8 p.m. on Monday. The injured man was taken to Noel Holmes Hospital in Lucea, where he was admitted in serious condition. Christie was taken into custody on Tuesday.

In Westmoreland, 42-year-old Jermaine Hall, otherwise called Prezzi, of Truro district in the Frome policing division, was charged with assault at common law and possession of an illegal firearm with intent to injure. Police say a taxi operator went to his wife’s home in Truro about 5 p.m. Saturday when a dispute developed and Hall, described as the woman’s baby father, allegedly assaulted and threatened him with a homemade gun.

Detectives from the Savanna-la-Mar CISOCA branch also charged 22-year-old Timoy Smith, of Orange Hill, over the alleged rape of a 13-year-old girl in Darliston on Sunday night. Police say WhatsApp messages led a relative to question the teen, after which investigators arrested Smith. He is expected in the Westmoreland Parish Court early next week.

Little London police are also investigating the killing of 40-year-old tractor operator Vinroy Holness in Retreat on Wednesday morning. Reports say a machete-wielding man kicked in the front door about 2:30 a.m. and chopped Holness several times before fleeing. Holness later died at hospital.

Separately, Jamaica observed the National Day of Remembrance for the Eventide Home fire with a floral tribute at National Heroes Park. More than 150 elderly women died when the Slipe Road home was destroyed by fire on May 20, 1980. Local Government Minister Desmond McKenzie said the observance underscored the duty to protect vulnerable citizens.

Opposition spokesman Peter Bunting warned that delays in tabling the Integrity Commission’s report on the Firearm Licensing Authority could harm anti-corruption safeguards. Kellie Dawn Hamilton, CEO of the Jamaica Special Economic Zone Authority, said a new Caribbean special economic zone grouping could improve regional trade coordination.

Professor Taneisha Stephenson of the University of the West Indies, Mona, said a developing El Niño could bring hotter, drier conditions, reduced rainfall and pressure on water, agriculture and health services. Overseas, several countries condemned Israel’s treatment of detained Gaza aid flotilla activists after a video posted by National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir drew international criticism.