WESTERN BUREAU:

No formal charges have been levelled against the five men held in connection with the November 19 killing of four members of a St. James family and the wounding of three others in Retirement, St. James.

According to investigations, they have been unable to schedule dates for identification parades as the men are still without legal representation.

"Only two of them require identification parade, the others can be charged but we are awaiting counsel to do some interviews," explained Detective Inspector Paul Bernard of the Montego Bay Criminal Investigation Branch.

"We have even asked for legal aid but there has been no assistance."

The suspects were reportedly taken from a bus, which was among a motorcade returning from the Jamaica Labour Party's 63rd annual conference in Kingston, along the Rose Hall main road in St. James on November 20.

Three gunmen

Forty-three-year-old Lyris Ellis-Johnson was gunned down along with her 17-year-old daughter, Kaya Wilson, son, Kirk Wilson, 19, and her stepson, 15-year-old Troy Johnson.

Reports are that about 10 p.m. on Saturday, November 18, three gunmen kicked open the door to the Johnsons' residence as the family watched television.

The men opened fire hitting seven persons, including Mrs. Johnson's husband and her two sons, aged 14 and 10. However, the father managed to chop one of the attackers on the leg.