Westmoreland murders climb to 30

WESTERN BUREAU:

SAVANNA-LA-MAR MAYOR Bertel Moore has sounded an alarm over rising murders in Westmoreland, following two killings in the parish, including a student in Negril last Thursday night. Eighteen-year-old Kehian Pryce, who hailed from Hermitage district in West Point, Negril, and who was a student at Green Island High School in Hanover, was shot dead by gunmen at approximately 7 p.m. He was murdered hours after another man, Shamar Gooden of Hopewell, Hanover, was found dead with bullet wounds in the Westmoreland community of Logwood.

“Crime is out of control in the parish, and something is definitely wrong. Murder after murder, and now the murder of this Green Island student (Pryce),” Moore, who is the chairman of the Westmoreland Municipal Corporation, told

The Gleaner.

“This has to stop! This is getting out of hand! As I’ve said before, the Westmoreland police need more mobility,” Moore added.

“We’re now living in a serious crisis within the parish, and I personally think we need more social programmes for the youths. It’s a very sad case, and I don’t know where it’s coming from, but one thing I do know is that it needs to be addressed immediately.” Thirty persons have been murdered in Westmoreland in 2019. According to reports, shortly after 7 p.m. on Thursday, Pryce was sitting on a bench in a yard in Hermitage district when two men drove up on a motorcycle.

One of the men alighted from the motorcycle, pulled a handgun, and shot Pryce multiple times before escaping. Pryce ran a short distance before collapsing, and was subsequently taken to the Savanna-la-Mar Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Efforts to get a comment from Green Island High School were unsuccessful.

Earlier in the day shortly after 9 a.m., the Whithorn police received reports that a group of men were seen beating a man in the Logwood community. On their arrival, they discovered Gooden’s body, which had been set on fire and had multiple gunshot wounds. It was later discovered that Gooden had been missing from his community of Hopewell since Wednesday.