Hundreds of onlookers converge on the compound of the Jamaica 4-H Club's New Forest Centre where two employees, caretaker Vashton Christie and centre manager Keith Davidson, were shot and burnt to death in Duanvale, Trelawny, yesterday. - PHOTO BY MONIQUE HEPBURN
WESTERN BUREAU:
TWO EMPLOYEES of the Jamaica 4-H Club's New Forest Centre in Duanvale, Trelawny, were yester-day shot and burnt to death by unknown assailants in a brutal early-morning attack in the community.
Dead are 53-year-old Keith Davidson, centre manager, and Vashton 'Casha' Christie, 52-year-old caretaker and Justice of the Peace.
Reports are that about 12:30 a.m., the police and the fire brigade were summoned to the compound of the centre after receiving reports that Mr. Christie's Nissan station wagon motor car, which was parked in front of his yard, was on fire. They arrived on the scene and extinguished the blaze.
Preliminary investigations were conducted and the police urged Mr. Christie to leave the premises for the night, but he reportedly refused, at which time, Mr. Davidson, who also resided on the compound, went to stay with him.
Both men met their cruel fate approximately one hour later when Mr. Christie called the police to report that his house was being fired upon.
The police party returned to the compound where Mr. Christie's house was ablaze. It was subsequently discovered that both men had perished in the fire.
RESIDENTS DISTRAUGHT
When The Gleaner visited the scene, hundreds of shocked and grieving residents converged on the compound trying to make sense of the brutal killings. Men and women wailed openly when they saw the charred bodies.
"This is simply more evidence of the lawlessness that has overtaken this country, where small elements are allowed to take over because people do not want to cooperate with the police," Dennis Seivwright, president of the Trelawny Chamber of Commerce, told The Gleaner. "We must start speaking out and expose the criminals."
"It will continue if we do not get together to protect our communities. We can see the grief all around, but we have a part to play in solving crime, it is not just the police's responsibility," Mr. Seivwright continued.
Gloria East, fellow Justice of the Peace and one of the last persons to speak with Mr. Christie, recounted her final conversation with him.
"I heard that police came in the area and I said, 'Casha, please be careful. He called me this morning at about 12:30 a.m. to say that his car was on fire. I asked him if he was all right and by daylight I got a call that dead body is up here."
