Murder suspect on the run

A Fort Road man whom residents said had a confrontation with Kemmoy Jeffers just before he was found dead on Friday night, is now wanted by police for the alleged murder.
The bulletin for the arrest of Earlsfield James of Penny Lane, Upper Fort Road, was issued last night in a police press statement.
The police are asking anyone with information regarding James’ whereabouts to contact the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) at 462-3913 or 462-3914. Lawmen are also appealing to the 54-year-old man to surrender himself at any police station without delay.
Immediately following Friday night’s incident, police took two people into custody. They are currently assisting them with their investigations.
James is a Dominican national and was one of the individuals who allegedly tied up Jeffers to subdue him after he (Jeffers) went on a rampage of erratic behaviour, allegedly smashing things, throwing stones at people and into vehicles on Fort Road and forcing his way into homes, among other misconduct.
Yesterday, Fort Road residents lamented that the police took too long to respond to the report of Jeffers’ behaviour and they opined that he could have been alive today had the police acted promptly.
Thirty-one-year old Jeffers was found dead Friday night with his left leg and neck tied.
Eyewitness, Ann-Lee Phillip-Lee, told OBSERVER media that she called the police repeatedly between 10 and 11 p.m. Friday when Jeffers was out in the street attacking people and shouting as if he was “out of his mind.”
The woman said that when she first called the police, Jeffers was on the side of the road near a hair salon, far from where he eventually met his demise.
The woman said that Jeffers was slamming himself into the building, then he began throwing stones at the building before he ran down the road and started throwing bottles at a property that’s up for sale.
“Vehicles started coming up the road and he throw stone in the people and dem vehicle and when dem stan’ up and look dem say ‘tarl man dis ya a one mad man’ and dem drive up,” she recounted.
She said that she called the police a second time after Jeffers attacked someone in a car near Percival’s Service Station.
“Di boy start to behave like one tiger, you know like when animal inna somebody and de people run, dem even forget dem come inna dem car and then one run back fuh de car. Then he start to beat up on Mr. Percival vehicle,” she said.
The witness said she thought about calling David Percival but decided against it because if he had come and 
something tragic had happened, she felt that she would have been blamed for it having been the one to call the businessman.
After that, the woman said Jeffers turned his attention to another person and vehicle.
“He jumping like you know when animal jumping, he not walking, if you understand he was behaving funny. So then he jumped over a fence on the opposite side with the apartments and you hear he smashing in Cheridee door like he want fuh go into de house and then me hear dem a say ‘he in de house’ and me hear the kids and dem start fuh scream…me go back pon the phone with police and say ‘aryu need fuh come, di boy a go in people place and lick down’,” she recalled.
The witness said she made yet another call to the St. John’s Police Station and a policewoman answered and told her the police had received a number of complaints already and would respond.
According to the eyewitness, even after promising a response, the police did not go to the scene right away. As a result, she said, residents were forced to take measures to subdue Jeffers who was continuing his erratic behaviour.
She said she heard a commotion coming from the back of the house and later learned that a number of people had tied up Jeffers and some were cursing about that being done, claiming that there was no need to do so.
“I called back again and said ‘dem tie he up’…’yuh need fuh send somebody here’ and then she [the police woman] say ‘I dispatched somebody there’, And 45 minutes [later] is then they come there…if dem min respond from the time me call, dem woulda hold he here before he even go down the road,” she said.
Jeffers was known to have a drug problem for several years and it was only recently that his mother, Jackie Carter, reportedly made headway with arrangements to get him into a rehab programme which Phillip-Lee said he was expected to start this week.
Meanwhile, another resident from the area who did not want to be named, dismissed suggestions that a serial killer is on the loose in the area and Jeffers was a victim.
The woman said that this killing bears no similarity to the killings of two homeless people who were found dead, with their limbs bound, on April 15 and 18.
Another person adding a voice to the matter is well-known advocate on a range of social and other issues, Mary John, who, in a post on Facebook, accused the police of failing the deceased.
She’s calling on residents to come together to help others living on the street with drug problems like Jeffers.
John is concerned about their safety.
She believes that Jeffers “smoked something laced” and that would explain his “quite abnormal behaviour” or why he “tripped.”