Woman robbed, killed in Comfort, Clarendon

A woman was shot dead in Comfort district, Four Paths, Clarendon, during a reported robbery yesterday.

The deceased has been identified as 42-year-old Marie Sushana Smith-Martin, also known as ‘Brownie’, a vendor of Beckford Crescent, Sandy Bay, in the parish.

The police say that Smith-Martin was shot in the head after she allegedly tried to disarm her attacker, using a machete.

Reports are that about 10:15 a.m., Smith-Martin and another woman were travelling along Comfort main road in a Silver AD Wagon, selling household items and slippers. On reaching a section of the roadway, they were stopped by a man, purporting to be a customer, who requested a pair of slippers. Both women exited the vehicle and went to the rear of the car where the slippers were located.

While talking to the customer, another male, armed with a handgun, approached them, and both men proceeded to rob Smith-Martin and the other woman of their cell phones and an undetermined sum of cash.

It is alleged that the now-deceased woman pulled a machete in an attempt to disarm the attacker, who shot her in the head.

The gunman reportedly entered Smith-Martin’s vehicle and drove off while the other man ran off into bushes.

Residents then alerted the police, and on arrival, Martin’s body was found on its left side with multiple gunshot wounds. The other woman was unharmed.

The police say that a black-handle machete was found next to the body.

Smith-Martin’s motor vehicle was later found abandoned along the Rhymesbury main road in the parish.