Police probe Jamaica killings, Manchester murder rise and Ebola quarantine concerns

Police are pursuing several investigations across Jamaica, including fatal incidents in St. Elizabeth, St. James, Hanover and St. Catherine, while Manchester officers say interpersonal disputes and lottery scamming are helping drive murders in that parish.

In St. Elizabeth, detectives are awaiting ballistics findings after 64-year-old car dealer Melvin Blight and 34-year-old Romel Johnson, also called Cotti or Kman, were found dead at an auto mart in Longwood near Santa Cruz on Sunday. Police believe Johnson entered the compound to remove vehicle parts and that a struggle followed. Investigators reported finding tools and a headlight removed from a vehicle. Blight’s wife later found his body after repeated calls went unanswered, and police said a blood trail led over a wall to Johnson, who was found holding the businessman’s gun.

St. James police are also investigating the death of three-year-old Josani Stevens of Ocean Street, Paradise, Norwood. Police said her 20-year-old mother took her to Cornwall Regional Hospital about 9:19 p.m. with bruises and swelling to the forehead, and she was pronounced dead on arrival.

In Hanover, a Jamaican-born man living in Florida was arrested after his 33-year-old wife was fatally stabbed at an Airbnb in Esher late Sunday. The couple had been vacationing with their two-month-old baby. Residents reportedly contacted police after seeing the 36-year-old husband walking with the infant about 2 a.m. Monday.

In St. Catherine, Constable Shanki Gordon of the St. Catherine North operations team died after a motorcycle crash in New York early Monday. He was taken to Linstead Hospital and pronounced dead about 2:38 a.m. Senior Superintendent Nicholson described him as hardworking, energetic and jovial.

Manchester Superintendent Kerry Duncan said the parish recorded 14 murders between January 1 and May 23, up from eight for the similar period in 2025, with shootings also up 40 per cent. She said police have intensified operations against lottery scamming and reported a 110 per cent murder clear-up rate when cases from this year and last year are counted.

Separately, Dean Dawson is to learn next Tuesday whether he is guilty of harbouring fugitive Glendon “Bull” Amos, who police said was wanted for murder when arrested in St. Catherine on January 29, 2025. Dawson told the parish court he did not know Amos was wanted.

Public health practitioner Dr. Winston Dawes is urging supervised quarantine for travellers from Ebola-affected countries after health authorities said eight arriving passengers with relevant travel histories were counselled and placed under mandatory self-quarantine.