Western Bureau:
AS THE nation's leaders continue to grapple in Parliament over whether or not the death penalty should be retained, murder has hit an all-time high in St James with the parish's murder tally for a single year passing the 190 mark for the first time.
The latest victim of the ongoing criminal mayhem is 19-year-old Jermaine Junior Robinson, an unemployed resident of Hendon, Norwood. He was shot and killed by unknown assailants in his community Thursday morning.
According to police information, shortly after 6:45 a.m., residents heard multiple explosions in a section of the community and alerted the police. On their arrival, the police found Robinson's bullet-riddled body slumped over the steering wheel of a grey Toyota station wagon licensed 7891 SK.
Robinson's death, which comes sharply on the heels of last Monday night's horrifying incident in the Green Pond area in which rampaging gunmen murdered four persons, brings to 196 the number of persons murdered in St James since the start of the year. Last year's 187 murders was the previous record.
Negative impact
The spate of killings has been described as "a most frightening scenario" by president of the Montego Bay Chamber of Commerce, who noted that the crime situation is now having a negative impact on business, commerce and entertainment.
"People are living in fear and are hesitant about leaving their homes, especially at nights, and as a consequence, the business and entertainment sectors are suffering," said Lloyd B. Smith. "While I appreciate the effort being made by the police, I would like to see our members of parliament and councillors playing a greater role in the fight against crime."
Despite numerous changes in the parish by the police hierarchy and the introduction of new policing strategies over the past five years, each year has recorded in excess of 100 murders.
In an interview with The Sunday Gleaner, Assistant Commissioner of Police Denver Frater blamed the parish's crime situation on the ability of criminals to access illicit funding through the multimillion-dollar 'MoBay Lotto Scam', which is believed to be funnelling millions of dollars into the criminal underworld.