Man charged for brother’s murder

A Manchester man has been charged for the murder of his brother, who was visiting the island from England a week ago in the Mike Town community in the parish.

According to police, 38-year-old carpenter Lemone Brown of Love Lane in Mike Town, was charged on Thursday with the murder of his sibling, Michael Brown, 48, who is of Mike Town and Waterford, England, addresses. Reports from the Mandeville police are that about 12:20 a.m, on January 19, Michael was at home when he was pounced upon by a lone gunman, who opened gunfire hitting him to the upper body. The police were summoned and he was taken to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

The deceased is said to have been in the island for his mother's funeral. The police have revealed that Brown's court date is currently being finalised and other persons of interest are expected to be brought in for questioning. Commander of the Manchester Police Division, Superintendent Shane McCalla, recently told the media that the murder was the result of a family issue over land that dates back to 2015.

"It is really sad, what occurred and what is even more sad is that the persons, even the deceased, would have been at the Mandeville Police Station where members of the community safety and security arm and the restorative justice would have tried to get the parties to come to some form of agreement in their disputes over the properties," said McCalla.

With the parish recording five murders since the start of year, McCalla said a number of those have been dispute related. He said the same is true for the 59 murders recorded last year.

"What we want people to do is to try to find more amicable means to resolve conflicts. A number of the murders recorded in the parish are coming out of disputes and an inability to properly manage conflict and resolve disputes," he said.