Rodney Thompson charged in Ocho Rios fatal crash as police detain gun suspect and courts advance Barnswell case

Police have charged 27-year-old Rodney Thompson of Getty's Town, Free Hill, St. Mary, after a motor vehicle crash on Main Street in Ocho Rios, St. Ann, left 65-year-old Claude Thorpe dead.

Officers said that shortly after 6:00 a.m. on June 13, Thompson was driving a 2014 Toyota Mark X near Big Ben Supermarket when he lost control, swerved across the road, and struck Thorpe on the sidewalk. The vehicle then hit a utility pole. Thorpe, of Petersfield in Retreat, St. Mary, was pronounced dead at hospital. Thompson, seen on CCTV leaving the scene, was later turned over to police by relatives and received hospital treatment for crash injuries.

Thompson was operating without a driver's licence and without insurance. He has been charged with causing death by dangerous driving, driving without a licence, and driving without insurance. A court date is being finalised.

In Kingston, an 18-year-old from Tivoli Gardens who was listed as a person of interest in firearm offences across the Kingston Western, Kingston Eastern, and St. Andrew Central police divisions was taken into custody on Wednesday. Police said the suspect, known by the aliases Papa and Papa Time, was arrested during a targeted operation near Tivoli Gardens Comprehensive High School on Industrial Terrace sometime after 1:00 p.m. He is linked to an incident on May 31 in which a woman was allegedly attacked with a firearm along Jacques Road in Mountain View, and is also suspected of firing at two men along Anderson Road on August 9, 2025. Investigators describe him as a member of the Chuck Anderson Road Gang in the Kingston Western division.

Former May Pen mayor and People's National Party councillor Ian Barnswell, who is accused of assaulting a woman last year by hitting her with a water bottle, is due back in court on September 18. When the matter was mentioned at the Clarendon Parish Court outstation in Lionel Town on Friday, Barnswell and the complainant were referred to mediation. His attorney, Michael Thomas Charter, said he hopes both sides can reach an agreement, noting that tempers may have eased since the incident arose during a heated political period; if mediation fails, the case remains on the trial list.

Opposition Leader Mark Golding said on Thursday that he has found no evidence that any opposition member of the House of Representatives or the Senate is under Integrity Commission investigation for illicit enrichment. He told a press conference that he put the question to each opposition MP and senator after the commission indicated through its parliamentary representative that anyone under such investigation would know because they would have been approached for information to support declared assets. Golding said none reported being under investigation. The parliamentary opposition has called on Prime Minister Andrew Holness to remove Dr. Andrew Wheatley from the cabinet following an Integrity Commission recommendation that he be charged for illicit enrichment. Wheatley, the member of parliament for St. Catherine South Central and minister without portfolio in the Office of the Prime Minister responsible for science, technology, and special projects, has denied allegations of unexplained wealth involving more than $164 million.

Human rights group Jamaicans for Justice has raised serious concerns about Jamaica's agreement to accept third-country nationals from the United States as a temporary transit point. The government has said only non-criminals would be transferred, with a cap of roughly 10 people in each 30-day window, full United States funding, strictly temporary stays, and Jamaica's sovereign right to refuse arrivals. JFJ argues those assurances are not enough without robust, transparent, and independently verifiable safeguards, and warns Jamaica could still fall short of its international legal obligations and long-standing human rights commitments. Executive Director Mickel Jackson said the memorandum of understanding should be tabled in Parliament. "Given this particular situation and the great public interest and the possible impact it may very well have on the nation, we think it's in the best interest of the country and good governance for the MOU to be tabled," Jackson said. She added that once persons arrive, they are in Jamaica's legal custody, and when they move onward Jamaica must ensure it does not breach obligations under the 1951 Refugee Convention and its 1967 Protocol, including on non-refoulement, where persons may face persecution.