G-City gangster gets 15 years for murder

WESTERN BUREAU:

High-profile St James gangster Omar Troy Johnson, who recently pleaded guilty to murder in the St James Circuit Court, was slapped with a 15-year prison sentence when he returned to the same court yesterday. He will have to serve 14 years before he becomes eligible for parole.

The 24-year-old Johnson, of Buck Toe Lane in Salt Spring, who is a reputed top-tier member of the much-feared G-City gang, was convicted on Wednesday, March 10, for the shooting death of Syble Malcolm, who was murdered in front of her grandchildren at their Cornwall Courts home also in St James on February 15, 2020.

We are coming at them

"This is a good day for the law-abiding citizens of St James and the police," said the parish's police commander, Superintendent Vernon Ellis. "We want the other violence-producers in St James to realise that we are coming at them with all the tools in our toolbox and when they are caught, and we know they will be caught, that they stand to spend many years behind bars."

Johnson reportedly went to Malcolm's house armed with a handgun about 2:45 a.m. and gained access to the building through a rear section. As he tried to access the section of the house where the family was located, Malcolm confronted him and a struggle ensued. The gun went off and Johnson was hit in the arm. He subsequently overpowered Malcolm and shot her in the head from close range before fleeing the scene. Malcolm was rushed to the Cornwall Regional Hospital where she was pronounced dead.

Later that day, Johnson showed up at the hospital and was not able to properly explain how he was shot. The police were alerted and subsequently took him to his house where his bloody clothes were found. DNA was taken from the clothes and also a forensic swabbing for gunpowder residue was carried out by the Scene of Crime Unit.

"Blood samples and latent prints were taken from the location of the murder matched that which was found on the scene," Ellis said. "The scientific evidence and the shrewdness of the detectives left him no other choice but to become a proactive cooperator. I hope the other gangsters will realise that while they may be able to intimidate witnesses, they cannot intimidate DNA."