Glenroy Sinclair, Staff Reporter
This resident of Mulgrave Lane, Jones Town, looks on disconsolately yesterday morning, several hours after gunmen invaded the community, killing three persons and injuring five others. - NORMAN GRINDLEY/DEPUTY CHIEF PHOTOGRAPHER
FIVE year-old Morifa was screaming for help as she ran as fast as her little legs could carry her into the narrow road of Mulgrave Lane, Jones Town, in St. Andrew.
Blood spurted from the gunshot wound in her back, staining her nightie bright red, but, scared out of her wits, she ran on.
Three persons were shot dead as rampaging gunmen sprayed their homes with bullets in a pre-dawn attack.
But Morifa was one of the lucky ones. Finally, she collapsed on the road in a frightened, bleeding heap.
BAWLING FOR HELP
"The little girl run out in her nightclothes, bleeding and crying out for help. She then collapse in the road," said a neighbour, who reported hearing the child cry for help.
Morifa's parents, the common-law couple Teresa Smith and Horace Small, had also managed to escape when armed thugs firebombed the two houses and a snack shop in the tenement yard at 11 Mulgrave Lane.
However, three persons were killed during the relentless 20-minute armed assault. The dead have been identified as a mother and son, Sandra Honeyghan, 47, and Kohinda Boothe, 23, while the third person is 25-year-old Wayne Gordon. Other persons injured in the attack were Andrew Coombs, and Shantell Boothe.
According to the police, a group of about 15 heavily armed gunmen invaded the community of Mulgrave Lane, shortly after 2:00 a.m., kicking down the doors of several tenement apartments. They then opened fire indiscriminately, shooting the occupants.
Yesterday, the narrow, dead-end lane was transformed into an emotional scene, as friends and relatives from near and far came and wept openly with the bereaved families. Claudette McNeil, the 49-year-old mother of Wayne Gordon, sobbed in between tears, as she sat and puffed on a cigarette, while looking at what was once her son's room.
MOTIVE
Allegations are that the motive was centred around a triangular relationship, but Superintendent Delroy Hewitt of the Kingston Police Division, believed it was more than that.
"It could be a case of reprisal," said Supt. Hewitt.
In the meantime, the police said they are interested in speaking with two men known as 'Bigga' and 'Roamie', who they believe can assist with their investigations.
It was yet another bloody day in the South St. Andrew constituency of Finance Minister Dr. Omar Davies, one of the front-runners in the leadership race for the People's National Party. The incidents occurred less than 24 hours after three persons from the nearby Craig Town/Jones Town community were slain. Yesterday's brutal killings also came on the heels of a public statement made by National Security Minister Dr. Peter Phillips Wednesday night that the security forces were winning the war against crime.
Police Commissioner Lucius Thomas who was also at the 'Reclaim Jamaica National Crime Forum', at the Courtleigh Auditorium at the Life of Jamaica Building, revealed that, up to that time, 1,448 persons have been murdered since January.
