Nagra Plunkett, Staff ReporterWESTERN BUREAU:
EIGHT PERSONS, all male, were murdered in St. James and sections of the Corporate Area between Christmas Day and yesterday, making it a bloody holiday weekend.
Those killed in St. James are Avando Powell, 21, also known as 'Ronald'; Eric 'Scrap Iron' Lettman, 38 and Patrick Wellington, 44. The other two were still unidentified at press time.
The five murders have pushed the homicide figure for the parish since January to 131.
Powell was reportedly shot and killed by a gunman at Barnett Lane in Montego Bay, St. James, yesterday. Reports from Constable Camille Tracey, Constabulary Communication Network liaison officer, are that about 9:10 a.m. Powell, who resided in Belmont, Westmoreland, and Hart Street in Montego Bay, was sitting on a verandah when his killer walked up to him. The man reportedly pulled a handgun and fired two shots, hitting Powell who died on the spot.
MULTIPLE GUNSHOT WOUNDS
On Saturday, about 10:20 p.m., Lettman was standing alone at a shop in Camrose, Granville, when explosions were heard. The labourer of Gutters in St. James, was later found with multiple gunshot wounds to his body.
Earlier that day, at about 7:30 a.m., the Montego Bay police were called to Albion by a passer-by who reportedly stumbled upon the bodies of two men along a dirt track behind a hospice in the area. It has been theorised that the men, whose identities have not been ascertained, were placed on the ground, face down and executed.
The younger of the two, believed to be a 15-year-old, is slim-built, of a dark complexion and is about five feet, five inches tall. The body was clad in blue jeans pants, black T-shirt and shoes. He was also wearing a red and white cap. The other youth, said to be about 24 years old, was also slim-built, of dark complexion and about five feet, eight inches tall. He was wearing a blue polo shirt, blue jeans pants, multi-coloured sneakers and a blue cap.
Prior to that gruesome discovery, security guards in the upscale neighbourhood of Spring Farm, found Wellington lying in a pool of blood. They alerted the Coral Gardens police, who later dis-covered that he had been shot. Reports are that about 12:45 a.m., the guards heard explosions and found Wellington during their subsequent search.
VIOLENCE
Violence in the communities of Barbican and Waltham Park in St. Andrew kept members of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) busy on the weekend.
According to police reports, at least three persons, including a physically challenged man, were murdered in both communities. The victims have been identified as Winston Gordon, alias 'Cripple', and Genjie Johnson, 27, alias 'Rankine', both of a Birdsucker Lane address in Barbican.
Also killed was Sadifa Lewis, 25. He was shot along with a seven-year-old girl on Waltham Park Road on Christmas night. The young girl was treated and released from hospital, while Lewis was pronounced dead.
On Sunday, some of the major players involved in the Barbican gang feud were taken into custody
following a raid in the Castle area of the community.
