Bloodbath: Screams and tears after Spanish Town quadruple murder
Published:Tuesday | June 7, 2022 | 12:11 AMAsha Wilks/Gleaner Writer
When a familiar car pulled up to the emergency unit at the Spanish Town Hospital on Sunday night, Kirk Barrett’s sister did not anticipate that she would be in for the shock of her life as her 21-year-old brother was among four men killed in a drive-by shooting in Tawes Pen in St Catherine.
The security guard told The Gleaner that she recognised her brother had been hurt on seeing a familiar pair of slippers when his foot happened to fall out of the car once the door was opened.
“A the foot mi recognise a draw out a di car. Mi drop down. Mi haffi scream out last night. All in a mi uniform, mi drop a ground,” she recalled Monday, still processing the fresh tragedy.
Barrett was killed along with Nicardo ‘Blacks’ Moore, 21, both of Railway Lane addresses, as well as Desmond ‘Pepeto’ Bloomfield, 34, of Ellerslie Pen in Spanish Town, and Horace Lettman, 38, of Oxford Road in Spanish Town.
A fifth man is reportedly hospitalised.
The quadruple murder came on a bloody weekend, which also saw a triple murder in Bull Bay, St Andrew; a triple shooting along Windward Way in Kingston; a double murder in Montego Bay, St James; and the discovery of burnt remains in Arnett Gardens, St Andrew.
The skyrocketing murder rate is expected to top the agenda for Police Commissioner Antony Anderson when he hosts his monthly press briefing today, with homicides running seven per cent higher than last year’s pace – a reversal of fortunes from the 1.7 per cent increase announced in early May.
Tawes Pen residents were still stunned by Sunday night’s attack, noting it had been years since a shooting occurred in the area. The last incident they could recall was a drive-by shooting in 2002.
“Nuh war nuh go on inna di area here,” one told The Gleaner.
Spanish Town Mayor Norman Scott agreed that the area had been relatively quiet.
This incident, he said, was “the first of its kind in a very long while”, as he condemned the gun violence.
That peace was shattered about 7:30 p.m. on Sunday, when the piercing sounds of bullets drove terror into the locals.
Lettman, who was described as a hard-working tiler and was not very sociable, had only just returned from his mother’s funeral.
He and two other men were sitting around a table, having a meal at their regular hang-out spot in front of a shop when they were attacked.
“Him nuh tek off him clothes weh him bury him mother. The whole a dem come from funeral and siddung right deh so,” one of his friends lamented.
The residents said that the location is a popular spot for young men and women to play board games and enjoy other recreational activities.
Despite the tragic deaths, one woman expressed relief that the usual number of people were not around the table at the time, theorising that many more lives would have been lost.
The other two men were said to have been shot further down the lane.
There was no police presence when The Gleaner visited the area early Monday morning. Two motor vehicles with bullet holes served as evidence of the attack.
Senior Superintendent Howard Chambers, head of the St Catherine North Division, told The Gleaner that it is believed that the shooting was gang related and was an act of reprisal for the shooting of 41-year-old Kishion Jarrett by a lone gunman connected along Old Harbour Road on May 30.
“Our understanding is that it is emanating from the 31 St John’s Road area that we have had some challenge in since the start of the year,” he added.
In January, rival gangsters drove up and opened gunfire at 18-year-old Ronaldo Skeen and 58-year-old Michael Lewis, killing them.
In May, 36-year-old Shaunette White was murdered and her boyfriend injured.
Another incident saw 60-year-old electrician Anthony Davis also being slain.
Devon Moore was inconsolable Monday and could hardly utter a word as he grieved the tragic loss of 21-year-old Nicardo, his only son and the second of three children.
With tear-filled eyes, he muttered, “Dem kill mi son like dog.”
“He’s intelligent. He’s very kind-hearted,” shared a 12-year-old sister, who explained that her brother had dreams of becoming a psychiatrist and was passionate about helping individuals who suffered from depression and anxiety.