Mom of murder victim regrets not speaking up

A woman whose son was killed in the ongoing deadly feud between Central Kingston gangs believes that she could have prevented it.

Mary* says that she heard men planning what turned out to be an attack, but she did not report it to the National Crime Prevention Fund (Crime Stop). Her son was killed in a subsequent shooting, believed to be retaliation for the attack she overheard.

"Mi tek up di phone fi call dem bout three different times ina one week, but because mi nuh know how dis ago affect things, mi change mi mind. And look deh! If mi did follow mi mind, mi son would a deh yah," she lamented. "Him never ina nutten bad, a mostly party him go and enjoy himself. Why mi never just mek di call?" Last Tuesday, residents protested close to Gordon House, pleading for a zone of special operations (ZOSO) to be established in the area. However, Mary said it will take more than that to help curb the bloodletting.

"What can ZOSO do when we di residents not helping them (the security forces)? Look how much people a dead ina Denham Town and look how much ZOSO in deh? A time fi Jamaicans tek di crime thing serious," she said. According to the police, nearly three dozen gun murders have been reported in the division since January. Mary said silence facilitates the violence.

"Yuh think if dem gunman know say people ago inform dem would a be so brazen? Mi no think so, but a from mi likkle bit mi a hear say informer fi dead," she said.

Crime Stop, during a Gleaner Editors' Forum last Thursday, said that more than 300 tips have been received so far in 2021, and it has managed to assist in the seizure of 19 illegal firearms and 279 rounds of ammunition. Between January and May, the fund has also paid out $2.3 million in rewards for tips in comparison to the $1.4 million for the corresponding period last year.

*Name changed to protect identity.