A Kingston and St Andrew Parish Court judge has ordered detectives investigating the Burgher Gully double murder to either charge or release the two bloggers they placed in custody as suspects by 6 pm on Friday.
The bloggers are in custody at the Hunts Bay Police Station. The police arrested them last month following the death of eight-year-old DJ Dawes and 34-year-old Joel Lemmanous of Burgher Gully.
The suspects were subjects of a habeas corpus application in the Kingston and St Andrew Parish Court on Wednesday, August 9, 2023.
The attorney representing the suspects argued that the police should release the men from the State’s custody because they were not going anywhere due to their profession.
“They are bloggers who can be found at any moment, Your Honour; they are not going anywhere. The police know where to find them because they are social media personalities,” the lawyer submitted.
Parish Judge Carlo Mason then ordered that the men are to participate in a question-and-answer session and are to be charged or released by Friday.
Police seized three rifles and one handgun during police/military operation in St James.
On Thursday, August 10, 2023, the St James police recovered three rifles, one handgun, and an assortment of Ammo during a joint police/military operation.
According to the acting commanding officer for the parish, Superintendent Eron Samuels, the purpose of the operation was to find wanted persons.
“We were targeting one of our wanted persons, and today we were able to disarm his gang of four weapons,” said SP Samuels.
SP Samuels reassured the residents that the police would continue to disarm gunmen and gangs to keep their communities safe.
“Our main intention is to have the residents of Montego Bay, St James feel safe; to let them know that the police are working to ensure that we protect them so that they can enjoy going about their lives without worrying about these criminals,” SP Samuels added.
The police did not make any arrests concerning the guns and ammo seizures.
The police appeal to citizens to share information about guns, gangs, and wanted men by calling their local police or Crime Stop at 311.