Two children and a man were Wednesday night shot dead in seemingly connected incidents when heavily armed men invaded this rustic
community, leaving a trail of grief and horror in their wake.
The deceased have been identified as Hopeton Lee, 34; five-year-old Kimani Johnson and one-year-old Daquan Davidson, all of Williamsfield in Dias, Hanover.
The Hanover police reported that the armed thugs shot and killed Lee about 11:05 pm after gaining entry to his house by kicking open a door.
The assailants’ rampage did not stop there as they later went to a board house, about half-mile away, and peppered the building with bullets.
After the shooting subsided, the two children, along with three others, were discovered with multiple gunshot wounds.
They were rushed to a hospital, where Kimani and Daquan were pronounced dead and the others admitted in serious condition.
The police believe that the killings were linked to the murder of a woman in the community last November.
The cops theorise that Lee might have been killed because he had witnessed that killing, despite later declining to participate in an identification parade.
“What we theorise is that there is a correlation with that (last year’s incident). Lee was a witness to a murder and when the person was taken into custody, he backed out to say he was a Christian now,” Deputy Superintendent of Police Ainsley McCarthy told reporters.
“If you witness a murder, come forward because backing out does not mean that you will be spared,” he added. “Because here it is that he backed out of the identification parade and he ended up dead, and we are theorising that it is from the same incident that he was killed.”
Lee was said to have been a close friend of the occupants of the house where the second shooting occurred.
At the same time, DSP McCarthy disclosed that the police had kept a close eye on the once-peaceful community after residents became petrified following a second murder in December, last year.
“There was a second murder in December and the citizens showed some sort of fear, so the police were here with them. Over the weekend we had a special bike patrol in the area because of the terrain,” DSP McCarthy said.
Yesterday, residents of the community said they were in fear. Both houses where the shootings occurred were empty.
Member of Parliament for Hanover Western Ian Hayles wept openly upon visiting the vacant, bullet-riddled house where the two children were killed.
“You ask them (children) to say a prayer at nights and go to bed. You ask God to keep them safe and ensure that they wake up and they can go to school today. Those kids can’t go to school today (yesterday), because they are at a morgue and they are at a morgue because someone went and sprayed their house with over 30 bullets,” the parliamentarian lamented.
“It is a single mother with two kids; no man live in the house. And if you see how the bullets were sprayed on to the house. They sprayed from top to bottom. Even if the kids went under the bed, they still would have lost their lives,” he added.
Minister of State in the Ministry of Education Youth and Information Floyd Green also expressed dismay and anger following the killing of the two children.
“Today is another sad day in the history of our country; these wanton, callous and senseless acts of violence against our children must be brought to an end,” Green was quoted in a news release from the ministry. “As a society we cannot sit back and allow this to be the new norm…
“Someone knows who committed this act and must give the information to the police; these villains must have nowhere to hide,” Minister Green said.
Minister Green also said that a team from the Child Development Agency was on the scene yesterday working with the other children in the family.
The residents, whose faces were etched with grief, were tight-lipped about the incident and requested that their pictures not be taken, telling the
Jamaica Observer that they feared for their lives.
One elderly man, who said he heard the explosions Wednesday night, claimed he will not cower and run away from the community.
“Mi born here and them have to kill me right here because I am not leaving,” the elderly man stated. “Me can always dead now.”
In the meantime, Hayles is calling on the Police High Command to beef up police presence in the area and upgrade the fleet of motor vehicles in the Hanover Police Division.
“Hanover was promised some vehicles from last year. We are yet to receive those vehicles from the Ministry of National Security. We need more resources, in terms of boots on the ground. If you look at the number of police officers in Hanover, it has been dwindling without any replacement,” Hayles said.
smh
You see the damn lopsided irony!?
His ass and those babies would have stand a chance if he testified!
Being a phucking christian doesn’t mean you are exempt from contributing to society! What dis great chrisian membership do fi him?! Being a phucking sanctified coward got his ass slaughtered and the innocent babies.
Maybe it’s just me but the stories I expect to get 100 comments smh.Rest in peace to all 92 murdered Jamaicans in 21days smh.
True Yardie, but tell u di truth maybe other bloggers feel like me sometime– mi just feel so drained with all this cruelty and heartlessness a gwahn a mi yaard and so many times, at times mi can’t even liff mi finga fi comment caz it hurt mi to mi core, suh mi just seh rip with prayer inna mi heart while the tears run down mi face–sometimes mi just smh caz di tears flow tumuch –
On the other hand some people see it sumuch dem become desensitized to it..That is the kind of world we living in now…but my heart breaks every single time not only because I am a mom, but because I also have one, siblings that have kids, and someone with a heart that cares…
I feel u Tinan but how do we as a people get desensitized to babies being killed? 1yo,2yo..4n5yo!!??1 would bet my Canadian and British ppl will confirm the feeling I have that a baby being killed would garner national attention and condemnation.
Surely CNN n the BBC would cover it n if there ever was a reason for JMG servers to crash it would be due to the outrage from the hundreds of thousands protesters commenting enuff is enough. …instead probably won’t pass 11 comments smh.
me tiyaad fi seh RIP for the murder of innocent people. When you live in a society where the murder of babies and women have become the norm. That society is doomed. My prayers go out to the mother of 2 lil innocent and everyone else affected by this act of terrorism.YES me seh terrorism because them terrorize every person in these communities affected by murder and violence. Pickney cannot happily play in the streets in some communities, for fear of running gun battles between rival factions, the police or just gunman invade the community. This a get outta hand MR PRIME MINISTER AND THE NEW POLICE COMMISSIONER WHAT UNNUH DOING ABOUT THE HOME GROWN TERRORIST DEM? God know me heart a bleed
Many people who love Reggae has their favorite buju banton song but I bet no one shares my fav.Buju’s song help Sudan resonates with me cuz as u sey Tinan, we’ve become so desensitized to the ills of this world once it’s not at our door steps.
I remember thinking who the fk cares about starving Sudanese but buju’s song made me care. Children are dying in Syria st the hands of the twin demons assad n putin….how much of us care to even spare a thought. The church lock down the country n we’ve prepared an arsenal of weapons if GAYS dare to march peacefully in their own country. How many times have we March n shut it dung for our kids rights to safety and life??
Why isn’t this a national outrage?where is the bi partisian political cooperation to protect our children? Where the fk is psoj n those other vested business interest groups? Where the fk is civil society.
The silence is deafening since we lock dung the country fi gas oil why we can’t pause it fi demand justice for our babies? Tinan I’m rt here with yuh is just that the tears nah run down mi cheeks cuz mi all cried out.
The best day/night of my life even over my child being born, was on my birthday in Cuba. I left the University and took a bicycle n jus went riding till night the whole city, soaking up the lifeblood n essence of the city.
The children were dignified though poor n they were playing n happy, doctors in white coats were sweeping the streets. Ppl greeted me like a long lost friend, I felt like a super star n didn’t spend a dime every where I went I felt loved.
I soo want this spirit for our Jamaican ppl n u find it in the rural areas. Instead we spend so much time preeing each other rather than loving each other.
Would you really kill someone you love..their children?
Tinan this is all too emotional fi mi so mi gone bk go read mi kartel book.see yall a mawning we ketch up zeen.
Oh before I go SYM ALL politicians except the Heroes ,Joshua n Shearer. ..iffy bout Portia.SYM all society tappanaris n business tycoons vultures…yes u BS!SYM again and agen.
The word is Love!
My heart bleeds, my heart bleeds for my country,my heart bleeds for my fellow men, but most of all my heart bleeds for the innocents, why ??how?? Where?? When?? God this is too much. Innocent lives been taking every day I can’t do this anymore , my God my heart is bled out…