St Elizabeth shooting death, St Ann murder charge and Antigua talks dominate regional update

Police are treating the shooting death of Anishka Thompson of New Forest, Manchester, as a death investigation after an incident in Hilltop district, St Elizabeth, about 8:30 a.m. Friday. A senior police source said Thompson's 38-year-old boyfriend told detectives he was preparing for work, removed his licensed firearm from a safe and placed it on a table. He said he was loading the weapon when Thompson picked it up playfully, and while he tried to take it back he heard an explosion. Thompson was taken to hospital and pronounced dead. Police are awaiting an autopsy and ballistic examination to determine whether the shooting was accidental.

In St Ann, 51-year-old Conro Hilton, also called Rusta, a higgler of Mammee Bay, has been charged with murder over the killing of his fiancee, 34-year-old Jessica Hell, a vendor of Capture Land in Mammee Bay. Police said Hilton was charged on Wednesday after questioning by homicide detectives. Investigators allege that about 5 a.m. on June 6 he went to Hell's home, called her outside, became involved in an argument that turned physical, and used a knife to slash her throat. He later fled and surrendered on Monday with his attorney.

Portland police are also probing the killing of a farmer in Content district, Hope Bay, on Thursday afternoon. The attack was reported sometime after noon, and investigators said the man received several chop wounds to the head and upper body during an incident involving another man. His identity has not been released. The alleged attacker is in custody. The latest Jamaica Constabulary Force statistics show the Portland Police Division recorded two murders between January 1 and June 27.

In Westmoreland, Nicole Lewis, 28, otherwise called Nikki, of Red Hills district, Burnt Savannah, was charged on Thursday with larceny as a servant. Police said Lewis, a supervisor at a Burnt Savannah business, was responsible for the cash register. Between April and June, the owner reportedly noticed unexplained revenue losses. After reviewing CCTV footage and register records on Sunday, June 28, the owner allegedly saw Lewis taking cash from the register without permission and placing it in her handbag. Investigators further allege she entered false transactions to hide the shortages. The matter was reported to police on Thursday, July 2, Lewis was later pointed out and arrested at her workplace, and her court date is being finalised.

Meanwhile, the Antigua and Barbuda government said it will publish a white paper on proposals to relocate third-country nationals from the United States. The Gaston Browne administration said the document will set out the background to the discussions, the issues raised for Antigua and Barbuda, the government's assessment of the proposals received, and the principles and conditions under which any cooperation could responsibly be considered. The government said the matter involves sovereignty, legal responsibility, public finance, national security, social stability and international obligations, and argued that a small state with limited resources and absorptive capacity cannot take on open-ended obligations for non-nationals another country wants removed. The white paper is to go before Parliament in a special sitting during the week of July 13. The cabinet last month backed Browne's recommendations and negotiating position on accepting a limited number of non-criminal third-country nationals and refugees, said talks with Washington resumed after Antigua and Barbuda submitted counter-proposals, and maintained that the country must keep the sovereign right to decide who may enter and live there.