Portmore Constable Kevin Williams Reported Missing After Weekend Absence

A Portmore police constable has been reported missing after he failed to return home from a visit to his girlfriend and did not report for duty over the weekend, prompting an ongoing police search in St. Catherine.

Constable Kevin Williams, assigned to the Waterford Police Station in Portmore and resident in Cumberland, left home to see his girlfriend on St. John’s Road in Spanish Town but never returned. He was also absent from his scheduled 6:00 p.m. shift on Saturday, July 18. His mother filed a missing-person report at the Caymanas Police Station on Sunday, July 19. Calls to his mobile phone since Saturday have gone unanswered.

A colleague described Williams as humble, jovial, reserved and dependable, and always ready for duty. Investigators say checks to locate him continue.

Elsewhere in St. Catherine, Guanaboa Vale police are hunting two gunmen who robbed a farmer of about $100,000. About 11:00 p.m. on Friday, July 17, as the farmer drove toward the Berry district, a Toyota Probox cut in front of him near an area known as 11 Miles, forcing him off the road. Two armed men left the Probox, took a bag holding the cash, and fled in the vehicle. The farmer reported the matter to Guanaboa Vale police.

In the Bahamas, 18-year-old Jamaican Melissa Coke pleaded guilty to injuring her ex-boyfriend, Kiana Rule, by striking him in the head with a hammer during a July 8 fight at their residence. She said she acted in self-defence and alleged Rule stabbed her in the same clash. Deputy Chief Magistrate Shakira Serville fined Coke US$500 or three months in prison—short of the one-year maximum—citing deterrence and the extreme provocation Coke endured. Rule is also before the court. After paying the fine or serving the term, Coke is to be handed to the Department of Immigration.

The Agricultural Protection Branch is warning livestock owners that illegal grazing on residential and private land can bring prosecution and impoundment. On Wednesday, July 15, between 2:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m., APB Area 3 officers and the St. Elizabeth Municipal Corporation impounded eight cattle valued at about $1.6 million. Residents have long complained of crop damage and safety risks from uncontrolled animals.

In Kingston, National Strategic Anti-Gang Division officers searching an abandoned house on Shera Drive, Tivoli Gardens, Kingston 14, at about 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, July 18, found a 9 mm pistol with a magazine holding six rounds. A man was arrested; his name is being withheld.

Also in St. Catherine, St. Andrew licensed firearm holder Kevin Mackey, 47, a contractor, was charged with hunting without a permit and discharging a firearm in a public place. About 4:30 p.m. on Thursday, July 16, APB officers responding to reports of shots in Hill Run found a Toyota on Williams Boulevard. When the trunk was reopened, 10 birds with apparent gunshot wounds and several spent shells were recovered. Mackey emerged from a nearby house with a shotgun, which was seized for ballistic testing. He was arrested and charged after interview; a court date is being set.