Fatal Hanover crash, Linstead taxi killing and Kingston garage blast lead Jamaica news roundup

A 75-year-old Hanover woman, identified as Sonia Freighto, has died after a motor vehicle crash on Friday morning. Reports say she was travelling in a Toyota Fortuner with a man believed to be her husband when the vehicle hit a tree about 10:00 a.m. Both were taken to hospital, where Freighto later died. The man’s condition was not disclosed, and police are continuing enquiries.

In St Catherine, Linstead police are looking for the gunman who killed 48-year-old taxi operator Roger Arnold, also called Kevin, of Golden Grove district in St Ann. Investigators say Arnold was in his car with passengers near the area known as OJ bus stop about 6:30 a.m. Thursday when a Nissan AD Wagon with several men arrived. One man got out and shot him several times in the upper body. He was taken to Linstead Hospital and pronounced dead. Police believe he may have been the intended target.

Police also seized an AR-15 rifle, 31 rounds of ammunition and two magazines from an open lot on Seventh Street in Greenwich Farm, St Andrew, on Thursday. No arrest was reported.

Federal prosecutors in the United States are opposing a three-year sentence request from confessed gun smuggler Country Hype and are instead seeking 75 to 87 months in prison. He pleaded guilty after attempting to send 30 firearms and 102 rounds of ammunition to Jamaica last year. Prosecutor Melissa Shaw told Judge Roy Altman the offence was serious and argued that gun trafficking threatens Caribbean security.

The Government says about $9.45 billion has been paid out under the ROOFS programme for households affected by Hurricane Melissa. Acting permanent secretary Diane Jennings said more than 116,000 assessments have been completed, with outstanding cases still being verified because of duplicate records, incomplete household data, TRN issues and geospatial inconsistencies.

In Kingston, Richard Magcguire has died from severe burns suffered in Wednesday’s explosion at a garage beside the Beryllium compound on South Camp Road. Two other injured men were flown to burn centres in the United States, while a fourth remained in intensive care at Kingston Public Hospital. The fire damaged five courier trucks and caused damage estimated at $50 million. The Jamaica Fire Brigade is working with Beryllium to determine the cause.