Two make-up artists killed hours apart

As crime continues to stifle life in western Jamaica, two make-up artists were murdered in separate incidents, joining the growing list of young persons who have died violently since the start of the year.

Christopher 'Chris' Hibbert, 21, of Orchard Housing Scheme in Hopewell, Hanover, was killed on Saturday, while 23-year-old Moesha Marcia Heath, of Sunrise Road in Sandy Bay, Clarendon, and Sheffield district in Negril, Westmoreland, was killed on Sunday. In the first incident, which occurred about 5:45 p.m., Hibbert, who operates a make-up shop along Hopewell main street, was reportedly inside his business place with another man when an argument developed. The man attacked and stabbed Hibbert multiple times in his upper body with a knife. During the melee, Hibbert ran from the building into a nearby bar where he collapsed. He was rushed to the Noel Holmes Hospital in Lucea, where he was pronounced dead. His attacker fled the scene after the stabbing.

"As far as I know, they were alone in the shop when one just attack the other, stab him up, and then run away," said a businessman, whose establishment is close to where the incident occurred. "As a make-up artist, he [Hibbert] is not a guy with many friends. His associates were not the regular youths on the corner."

In the incident in Sheffield, which occurred approximately 5:50 p.m., Heath and a male companion reportedly drove into her yard, where they were reportedly ambushed by three men armed with handguns. They fled in different directions as the men opened fire on them. When the police who responded to the shooting went to the location, Heath was found dead, lying on her back in a pool of blood with multiple gunshot wounds to her upper body. Her companion escaped unscathed.

The Sandy Bay police are investigating Hibbert's murder, while their counterparts in Westmoreland are probing Heath's killing.