WESTERN BUREAU:

An ongoing feud among three warring gangs in Granville, St. James, has been blamed for the grizzly deaths of a young woman and her common-law husband on Saturday night.

The incident occurred in the Poinciana squatter settlement of neighbouring Pitfour, where 19-year-old Natalie Scott and fiancé Renford Perkins lived in a one-bedroom house. Perkins, 40, was a carpenter. Scott was seven months pregnant and, had things not gone awry, would have given birth to her first child.

The Granville police are investigating reports that citizens heard explosions in the vicinity of Renford's house about 7:00 p.m. on Saturday.

About 6:35 yesterday morning, residents discovered the bodies and alerted the police who collected two 9mm and one .45 spent shells from the scene.

Begging for her life

Police have theorised that five gunmen pounced on the couple while at home.

They were not robbed and there were no signs of forced entry to their home. Perkins was shot in the head and face and, according to an eyewitness, the impact from the bullet fractured his skull. Scott was found in a crouched position underneath her bed. She was shot under the left arm and on her hand.

"You can see that she was begging for her life as she was in a praying position with her hands in front of her face," a witness said.

Scott's mother, Jennifer Robin-son, 45, of Tucker district, who along with two of her daughters visited the Granville Police Station, said she had no idea why anyone would want to kill her daughter.

Scott was originally from Fuller in Granville where the Shaw's are said to be involved in a gang feud with the Daleys and Lynchs. Police believe, however, that Scott and Perkins may have been killed by mistake as a gang member resides in close proximity to them.