Marcia Haughton wept uncontrollably after she received the news of her son's death. "Why, my Lord," she repeatedly asked.

Jamari Daye, 19, was shot about 9 p.m. by unknown assailant/s at 87 Washington Meadows, near Newland, St Catherine.

His mother, who told THE STAR that she is going to leave the community where she has lived for more than 10 years, said she could not accept her son's death.

"I was on the bed about 9 p.m., mi lie down a read mi Bible and mi here 'pow pow'. Mi heart skip a beat but a did not take it for anything serious," she said.

Haughton said, however, that a bit later "Mi start to call him phone and naw get no answer, so mi get worried." Her worst fear was realised yesterday morning when a friend called and told her that the body of her son was located in a swamp.

''A don't know what mi 19-year-old could a do fi dem come kill him. Lawd, this cannot happen to me, everything that is here is going to pack up and I am leaving,'' she said.

While some residents could not explain the killing, others theorised that fighting between rival gangs in the nearby Newland might spilled into their community.

The work of the police in the area was not yet completed, however, as while personnel were investigating that incident they were informed that a woman was killed in the nearby Westchester community.

Upon their arrival, the body of 29-year-old Jacqueline Johnson, unemployed, of Red Hills district, St Andrew, was found lying in blood in a house occupied by herself and her boyfriend. The boyfriend, Constable Okaro Benneth, of the Narcotics Division, has been taken into custody.

Police reports are that the policeman had been attempting to retrieve his gun from the woman who had been playing with it when the incident occurred.