Teen held after Portland fatal stabbing, police warn on false missing-child post, Clansman trial hears dead witness statement

Port Antonio police have arrested a 15-year-old schoolboy after he allegedly fatally stabbed a man on Foreshore Road near the bus park around 4:20 p.m. on Monday. The victim has been identified as Jeremy Ferguson, also known as Tarzan; police have not yet confirmed his age. Early reports indicate the teenager and three other schoolboys were gambling behind a public lavatory close to the bus park when a dispute broke out. The three boys reportedly left and returned with three adults, including Ferguson, who then attacked the accused. Police say he used a knife during the confrontation. Ferguson was taken to Port Antonio Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Investigators are continuing their enquiries.

The Jamaica Constabulary Force is urging the public to stop circulating a photograph and message claiming that nine-year-old Adenai Thomas is missing. Police say the information is false. Adenai has been accounted for, is in good health, and remains safely in the care of her family. Authorities warn that sharing the material can cause unnecessary distress to the child and her relatives.

In the ongoing Clansman gang trial, the statement of deceased exotic dancer Shanice Roberts was admitted on Monday as exhibit 23, shedding light on the February 7, 2020 killing of massage parlour operator Noel Smith at Eureka Place in St. Andrew. Roberts, who died in February 2021 from health complications, had given police a statement before her death. Michael Wildman, Jerome Spence, Nashon Guest, and Giovanni McDonald are on trial for knowingly facilitating Smith’s murder and a related robbery. Trial judge Justice Dale Palmer made redactions after the Crown and defence could not agree on which parts of the statement should be omitted.

In her recorded account, Roberts said Smith, whom she called her boss and also knew as Jason, operated a massage parlour from his home at 16 Eureka Place, St. Andrew. She said that around 10:15 p.m. on the night in question, masked men entered the premises, bound her, Smith, and other workers, and demanded money and credit cards. Roberts quoted one attacker as telling Smith, "Boy, I did you for dead," before shooting him. She said she and a co-worker freed themselves, hid in a yard shed, and later found other workers upstairs. Roberts said she could not identify the four masked men. The 25 accused in the Tasha Miller–led faction are answering to 16 alleged offences between August 2017 and November 2022. The matter continues in the Home Circuit Division of the Supreme Court in downtown Kingston.

Kingston and Washington are expected to open talks on a proposed arrangement under which Jamaica could accept non-nationals being deported from the United States. A document from the United States Embassy in Kingston outlines an operational framework for a third-country nationals agreement that has drawn scrutiny in several countries with similar deals. Last year, local attention intensified after Jamaican man Orville Ettoria was deported from the United States to Eswatini in July with no existing ties to that nation; he was later repatriated to Jamaica in September 2025.

Under the draft memorandum of understanding, the US would transfer up to 25 foreign nationals every two weeks for an unspecified period on a case-by-case basis. The arrangement would exclude unaccompanied minors, Jamaicans, and individuals convicted of serious criminal offences, except where violations of US immigration laws are involved. Biographical, medical, and criminal documentation would be provided to the Andrew Holness–led government before any transfer. Both sides intend actions under the MOU to comply with the 1951 Refugee Convention. Either country may discontinue the agreement with 90 days’ written notice through diplomatic channels. Deportees would arrive via Norman Manley International Airport in Kingston, accompanied by US Department of Homeland Security personnel. The document states the agreement does not financially commit either government, though the US intends to review available foreign assistance and pay a qualified international organisation for services to transferred individuals.