Deadly shooting shatters calm in Golden Spring

Jamarley ‘Papa’ Booth harboured aspirations of becoming an engineer, but those dreams were cut short last Friday night when he was gunned down in an ice cream shop in Golden Spring, St Andrew.

A relative of 19-year-old Booth, who requested anonymity, told The Gleaner that the unemployed youngster spent his time doing odd jobs in the town square.

“Yuh can go anywhere and ask ‘bout him. All dem a go tell you bout Papa is that him a wah nice boy. Him nice. Him just walk and give joke. If you sad, him just mek yuh laugh,” the relative said.

Police reports are that about 8:40 p.m., gunmen opened fire inside the ice cream shop, hitting three people.

Booth died from his injuries, while the other two people are said to be in stable condition.

Head of the St Andrew North Police Division, Senior Superintendent Shericka Service, told The Gleaner that no motive has been established for the shooting.

“Based on investigations so far, it’s not said to be gang related, but investigations continue,” she said, “It’s (Golden Spring) is not on our radar as an area of concern. We still pay attention to the area, but it’s not one of those areas of concern before this one incident.”

But the relative, who shared that Booth was an orphan and the youngest of four siblings, is confused as to why anyone would want to kill him.

“Nobody nuh have nothing bad to say ‘bout him. Him nuh thief, him nuh kill, him a nuh gunman. Him a just wa nice jovial person weh look after weh him want,” she said.

His untimely death has shaken his relatives.

“My head gone. When mi hear seh him dead last night, mi a seh a joke dem a mek, a prank dem a prank. Mi get di call ‘bout three time and and hang up di phone,” the relative said on Saturday.

“Yuh know seh mi always hear dem sumn ya happen to people and mi never know it wudda happen to mi. Mi can’t believe all now seh it really happen to me,” another relative, who also did not wish to be named, chimed in.

The visibly distressed business owner told The Gleaner that she was not inside the shop when the shooting occurred.

Describing Booth as a friend, she said that his killing has rattled her.

“Mi not even have the head to think, not just as a business owner, but the person, the victim, is somebody weh yuh used to on a daily basis, somebody weh yuh can talk to. It’s a lot of impact ... ,” she said as her voice trailed off.

The St Andrew Northern Police Division has recorded eight murders since year, three fewer over than the corresponding period in 2022.

sashana.small@gleanerjm.com