US citizen remanded in Hanover murder case as police probe firearm seizure, St Ann killing and JPS blackout

A 36-year-old United States citizen accused of killing his partner in Hanover was remanded when he appeared in the Hanover Parish Court on Friday. Aldine Germaine Blake, also called Dean, is charged with murder and breaches of the Immigration Act in connection with the death of 33-year-old Kidan “Kitty” Bradshaw, who was found dead at a rental house in the Bulls Bay area on Monday.

Blake, said to be originally from Jamaica, reportedly held a US passport and had been in the island since October, although he was expected to leave on April 3. Bradshaw, who was listed as being from Tampa, Florida, and Hanover, had been staying with Blake and a young baby believed to be their child. His attorney, Tamika Davis, sought bail, but prosecutors said more time was needed to review the file. The matter is set to return to court on Friday, June 12.

Police said Bradshaw and Blake had an altercation about 2 a.m. before she was injured. Concerned persons later contacted police after seeing a man walking along the main road toward Lucea with the baby in the early morning hours, leading to Blake being held.

In St Catherine, detectives from the St Catherine South Police Division arrested a Jamaica Defence Force private on reasonable suspicion of illegal possession of a firearm after a search at a premises in Zan Hill, Glengoff, on Thursday. Police said a Glock P80 pistol with no visible markings and a magazine containing five rounds were seized. The soldier remains at the Portmore lock-up while police and the army’s Special Investigation Unit investigate.

St Ann police are also probing the killing of an unidentified woman whose body was found with her throat slashed in Mammee Bay before 5 a.m. Saturday. Investigators are trying to establish the motive and the events before her death.

The Jamaica Defence Force, meanwhile, has urged the public to await investigations into Friday’s fire at Up Park Camp, while Energy Minister Daryl Vaz rejected online claims that the JPS islandwide blackout was linked to the USS Nimitz or the JDF blaze. JPS president Hugh Grant said bad weather caused the loss of five transmission lines, triggering a wider grid shutdown.