Brown
Noel Thompson, Freelance Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
A POLICEMAN and the mother of his children were ambushed and shot dead by gunmen as they walked along a rocky dirt track early yesterday morning in the Peace View community in Albion, Montego Bay.
Two bullets from the gunman's firearm silenced Special Constable Delroy Brown, 38, while a third killed 23-year-old Sheryl Reid, mother of two of his three children, close to her home.
According to Michelle Morle, a friend who lives at the same house as Ms. Reid, Mr. Brown and Ms. Reid were returning from a night at the beach in Hopewell, Hanover, when they were shot.
Police were still unsure late yesterday about the motive for the double murder. St. James's crime chief, Detective Deputy Superintendent Robert White, ruled out murder/suicide and robbery as motives for the killing. Mr. Brown's firearm, along with 13 live rounds, were still in his hand when the bodies were discovered.
"We wouldn't want to attach a motive to the killing until we unravel the facts," Mr. White said. "No suspect has yet been held. Forensic exhibits have been collected from the scene and will be sent off to the laboratory for analysis."
He said that it was evident that Mr. Brown had fired a single shot from his gun, but was unable to fire any more as the spent shell had lodged in the bridge and caused the gun to jam.
Residents of the Peace View area told The Sunday Gleaner that they heard four explosions at about 1:20 a.m. and when they rushed outside, they saw the two bodies sprawled on the dirt track. Constable Brown's face was pressed against a rock with his right arm outstretched, still clutching his service 9mm firearm. He was dressed in a jogging pants and a merino.
"Sandy", as Ms. Reid was popularly known, was found lying face down with one hand across her chest. She was clad in a pair of jeans shorts and striped blouse. She died one week shy of her 24th birthday.
One bullet pierced Mr. Brown beneath the right armpit and another on the right hand, while Ms. Reid was shot in the mouth. The bullet exited through the top of her head.
Their deaths have pushed the figure to 41 -- the number of persons slain in St. James since January and 610 islandwide. Constable Brown is the first lawman to be murdered in St. James since January.
Mr. Brown, originally from Windsor Castle in Portland, was attached to the St. James Special Squad. He lived in the newly-built Cornwall Court Housing scheme with his common-law wife Dian Henry and their three-year-old daughter.
Mr. Brown, who was on vacation leave, is the tenth police officer to be murdered since the start of the year
Ms. Reid, a telemarketing sales representative, was employed to Sharpe Communications in the Montego Bay Freezone. She was killed about 30 yards from her gate.
According to Ms. Reid's family members, Constable Brown had already given her a gold chain to mark her upcoming birthday. They said that when she asked him why he gave her the gift so early, he reportedly replied: "Mi nuh must live fi see yuh birthday so tek it from now."
Ms. Reid, sources said, on Wednesday asked a neighbour to take care of her children if she died. The relationship between Mr. Brown and Ms. Reid produced two daughters, a three-year-old and a two-year-old.
Yesterday morning at Ms. Reid's house a large crowd had converged on the rocky terrain. Her mother, Verona Wedderburn, said she last saw her daughter alive on Wednesday.
"I called the house at about 9 p.m. on Friday and Mr. Brown was there. Him tell me sey him and Sheryl was going to the beach. A told Sheryl that she is to stay home with her children and give going out a break," a distraught Mrs. Wedderburn told The Sunday Gleaner. "A don't know how a going to cope but I will cry until I get over it."
Miss Henry said she was also jolted by Mr. Brown's death.
"I don't know how I will cope," she said, bowing her head in tears.
