Police deaths, St Elizabeth family killing and CDF funding plea lead Jamaica roundup

A motorcyclist was hospitalised on Sunday after his bike crashed and caught fire on the North-South Highway near the Moneague toll exit. Reports say he was riding with other bikers when he hit and brought down a sign. Police helped take him to Linstead Hospital in St Catherine, but his condition was not immediately available.

The Jamaica Constabulary Force is also mourning two members who died over the weekend, while three highway patrol officers were injured in a separate crash. Constable Mikuel Frances, known to colleagues as “Teddy Bear,” was found with a gunshot wound to the head at the Maroon Town Police Station barracks in St James shortly before 9 a.m. Sunday. Senior Superintendent Aaron Samuels confirmed the death and said no further details would be given while the reported suicide is being investigated.

District Constable Nicholas McClean, 54, of the Conson Police Station, died at Kingston Public Hospital about 7:30 a.m. Saturday after being treated since last month for chronic heart disease. Raymond Price, president of the United District Constable Association, said the organisation was deeply saddened and would reach out to McClean’s relatives.

Police also reported that three highway patrol members and the occupant of a Toyota motor car received minor injuries after a collision on the Discovery Bay main road on Saturday evening. Other incidents sent to the Constabulary Communications Unit included two murders, two decomposed bodies, and a fatal crash in St Ann, where 64-year-old Claudet Torp was hit along the Roasa main road. In Hanover, businessman Christopher Fraser, 64, was reportedly robbed of his licensed firearm by two armed men in Hopewell.

In St Elizabeth, Superintendent Courage Minto urged residents to use the domestic violence intervention centre at the Santa Cruz Police Station after a deadly family dispute in Stevenson Town near Southfield. Police say a 19-year-old suspect is in custody after allegedly chopping his mother and two brothers shortly before 1 a.m. Saturday. Travis Williams died at the scene, while a 14-year-old sibling and their 43-year-old mother were hospitalised in critical condition.

Separately, St Andrew South Western MP Dr Angela Brown Burke renewed calls for the $20-million annual Constituency Development Fund allocation to be increased, saying costs and community needs have outgrown the figure.