(Jamaica Observer) – Nineteen murders in the 72-hour period from last Friday to yesterday morning pushed the country’s murder tally since the start of this year to 550, just three below the same period last year.
The bloody weekend started on Friday when 10 people were killed in 24 hours up to Saturday morning.
That number included a double murder in Old Harbour, St Catherine, where 24-year-old Sachona Haynes, better known as Cake Soap, and 21-year-old Shamar Blackwood were gunned down by unknown assailants.
Truck-Norris Ripton Brown, also called Tesha Miller, was the third victim in St Catherine on Friday. The 24-year-old was fatally shot in Spanish Town.
At the same time, a gang feud in Kingston Western claimed another life on Friday, while the St Andrew South Police Division, where a state of emergency is in place, recorded three more murders. One of the victims had been shot in Olympic Gardens on Thursday and succumbed to his injuries in hospital on Friday.
Murders were also recorded in Mandeville, Manchester; May Pen, Clarendon; and Falmouth, Trelawny on Friday.
The killings continued on Saturday when five persons were gunned down.