Glenroy Sinclair, Staff Reporter
A police officer views the burnt-out shell of a taxicab at the Duhaney Park Police Station in which the driver was fatally shot and his body burnt on Olympic Way, St. Andrew, yesterday. - RICARDO MAKYN/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
YESTERDAY WAS a frustrating one for Superintendent Newton Amos. The usually confident head of St. Andrew South Police Division bemoaned the lack of resources which is hampering his team's ability to battle the growing crime in his division.
"I am well aware that there are constraints but we are speaking about a division that has led the country in homicides and serious crimes since 1970," said Supt. Amos.
He was speaking against the background of another brutal killing in his division. Reports are that Donovan Pinado, a 23-year-old taxi driver, was chased and shot at by two gunmen along White Wing Avenue. On approaching the intersection of Olympic Way, the vehicle crashed into a wall and burst into flames.
Pinado's charred remains were later found in the driver's seat of his Nissan Sunny motor car. Deputy Superintendent Colbert Edwards, the crime officer for the St. Andrew South Police Division, said the attack was not intended for the driver, but for the passengers he was transporting. The passengers were not injured. "The shooting is linked to a gang feud in the area," he said.
CHILD KILLED
On Monday night, gunmen struck a few blocks from where the taxi driver died, killing a two year-old girl, Toni-Ann Thomas, and wounding her father, Anthony.
Since January, 144 persons have been killed in the St. Andrew South Division, which has pushed the country's murder toll to 805. According to Supt. Amos, the division's homicide rate has been escalating since 1970. He attributes this to the ongoing problems of the 33 depressed and crime-plagued communities across the division.
