Summary

• A St Catherine Parish Judge freed a St Catherine North law enforcement officer of corruption.
• Thugs gunned down a shopkeeper and a watchman in Linstead, St Catherine.
• St. Elizabeth detectives arrested a suspect after he allegedly had sex with his 10-year-old stepdaughter.

A law enforcement officer accused of soliciting money to release a car held as an exhibit at the Spanish Town Police Station in St Catherine in 2008 was freed of all charges by a St Catherine Parish Court judge on Monday, October 2023.

Parish court judge Janelle Nelson-Gayle freed constable Keffin Murray after the Crown offered no evidence.

According to the allegations,t in 2008, Murray solicited $5,000 from a motorist to release a car that the Police seized for Road Traffic Violations.

The complainant reported the matter to the Police. The Police launched an investigation, which led to Murray’s arrest and subsequent charge.

Detectives allegedly held Murray as he collected $2,500 from the motorist during a sting operation. 

Murray was attached to the St Catherine North Police Division at the time of his arrest. He had made numerous court appearances since November 2009.

After fifteen years of delays, the case was called up in Court on Monday, October 23, 2023. The prosecution offered no evidence, and the Court entered a formal verdict of Not Guilty.

Shopkeeper and watchman gunned down in Linstead.

ST CATHERINE, Jamaica – Police in St Catherine responded to the scene of a double murder Monday night, October 23, 2023, in Orangefield District in Linstead, St Catherine, where they found the bodies of two men gunned down by armed thugs.

The authorities identified the dead men as Dayton Dwyer, o/c ‘Coreyom’, age 33, a watchman at the Orangefield Primary School, and Rasciel ‘Rugar’ Givans, 36, a shopkeeper.

According to reports, at about 7:45 p.m., residents in the community heard loud explosions coming from Givans’ shop. They went to check and stumbled upon the bodies of the deceased men.

Law enforcement officers responded and found the men covered in blood with gunshot wounds to their heads and upper bodies.

The officers found Dwyer lying on his back along the side of the road and found Givans on his back inside his shop, behind the counter.

The Police found 28 spent casings while processing the scene. They did not establish a motive for the attack.

The investigation is ongoing.

St Elizabeth police arrested stepdad who allegedly raped 10-year-old girl.

BLACK RIVER, St Elizabeth — Detectives in St Elizabeth charged a suspect after he allegedly had sex with his 10-year-old stepdaughter multiple times, beginning when she was eight years old.

Head of the St Elizabeth police, Acting Superintendent Coleridge Minto, said the suspect is a 36-year-old maintenance worker. He is facing two counts of rape and sexual touching of a child. 

The suspect is the child’s stepfather. He has been having sex with the child since 2021. 

Superintendent Minto assured the citizens of St Elizabeth that all matters related to offenses against children will be investigated vigorously by the Police.

He added that the Police are intensifying investigations into previously reported cases. The Black River Criminal Investigation Branch is in the process of reviewing several case files. Many of these incidents were reported to the Police by the victims some time ago. 

“We will be actively pursuing the accused and suspects involved in these incidents and bring the matters before our courts,” he said. 

In August, Minto urged parents and guardians to protect their children amid worrying concerns stemming from the alleged buggery of a toddler and rape of a teenager.

At that time, Minto raised the alarm following the arrest of a 26-year-old farmer whom the Police charged with buggery against a 4-year-old relative.

“We have found in several cases that the accused in the matters relating to rape are persons who are either relatives or closely related to the victims, so we are asking parents/guardians, particularly those who have custody and control over their children, to pay attention to any change in the behavior of their children and to ensure that that they report all matters to the police,” Minto had said.

He encouraged the public to report cases of abuse against children to the Police.