Clarendon motorcyclist killed, Portmore student dead, Chuck urges Jamaicans to make wills

A 22-year-old Clarendon welder died on Saturday after the motorcycle he was riding crashed into a police service vehicle during a stop-and-search operation, according to police reports carried in a Real News Media TV update for Sunday, May 31, 2026.

The dead man was identified as Kevin Baker of Havana Heights, Clarendon. Police reported that about 2:10 a.m., Baker was travelling west on a Zamco 200 motorcycle along Mirhead Avenue in Denbigh, Clarendon, with a female pillion passenger. Neither was said to have been wearing a helmet. The police vehicle, a 2024 Toyota Land Cruiser, was positioned for stop-and-search duties when Baker allegedly started riding erratically and collided with the SUV.

Both motorcycle occupants were injured and taken to May Pen Hospital, where Baker was pronounced dead. The 20-year-old woman was admitted in serious condition. The A3 Accident Reconstruction Unit processed the scene, and the May Pen Traffic Department is investigating.

In St Catherine, police are also investigating the suspected suicide of 14-year-old Davian Armstrong, a Cedar Grove Academy student from One North, Greater Portmore. Reports said he was at home about 4:30 p.m. Saturday after completing assigned chores, then later could not be found. Household members reportedly discovered him on a staircase with a piece of electrical cord. He was taken to hospital and pronounced dead. A post-mortem examination is pending, and the Portmore Criminal Investigations Branch is probing the matter.

The update also highlighted Justice Minister Delroy Chuck’s appeal for Jamaicans to prepare wills, warning that unresolved estates continue to burden the courts and divide families. Speaking at a regional alternative dispute resolution, policy development and estate planning forum at Ocean Coral Spring Resort in Trelawny, Chuck said the Administrator General’s Department handles hundreds of estates each year but receives more cases as others are closed.

Chuck said he would like to see the department become unnecessary, adding that this would require more Jamaicans to make wills. The discussion included concerns from families linked to reggae estates, including Maxine Stowe, widow of Lincoln “Sugar” Minott, and relatives connected to Clement “Sir Coxsone” Dodd and Bunny Wailer.

Stowe said music estates are especially complicated because royalties, master recordings, archives and family responsibilities often overlap. Dodd’s estate, reportedly valued at US$12 million and tied to roughly 6,000 recordings, remains the subject of disputes years after his 2004 death. Bunny Wailer’s daughter Nidra Livingston said the central issue is often access to money and information. The Administrator General’s Department reportedly oversees more than $50 billion in assets, but a comment from the agency was not obtained in time.