Ex-gangster urges criminals to seek the Lord

A self-proclaimed former gangster who got baptised recently says that he is determined to make amends for his past transgressions and to help win souls for Christ in 2022.

John Brown*, 51, said that he did not spare targets during a ruthless nine-year spell as a gunman wreaking havoc in Kingston and St Catherine. Brown confessed to THE WEEKEND STAR that he killed three people and played an integral role in at least seven other murders.

"Mi never hesitate fi buss my gun, enuh... yea man, my brethren dem know say once mi a go pon a mission shot ago fire," said the once trigger-happy hoodlum, who also enjoyed robbing business places and individuals within the Corporate Area. "We do everything yuh can think of where crime is concerned, enuh. Robbery, shooting, murder, stabbing, yuh name it."

However, the born-again Christian said that he is confident that he can help to solve Jamaica's crime problem, having already lived a large portion of his adult life as a wanton criminal.

The country has recorded at least 1,440 murders since the start of the year. This is despite states of public emergency in certain hotspots and the continued COVID containment measures, including nightly curfews, and several lockdowns.

But the father of three, who also spent 11 years at the Horizon Adult Remand Centre in Kingston for illegal possession of a firearm, thinks that if more criminals learn about Jesus Christ, they will flee from their wicked ways.

"Me is an example. A nuff foolishness mi gwan wid during the 1990s when mi a roam streets wid big machine. So mi know say if me can have a change of heart, all it need is for the youths today to come to know Christ and me is on a personal mission to win as many souls next year because di crime thing a get out of hand," he said.

The ex-gangster said that it was during incarceration that he found the Lord. The death of one of his childhood friends proved to be pivotal.

REPUTATION

"Mi go a jail with a reputation and so that mek things easy fi me wid di other inmates. Nobody no trouble me. But, after bout six year a Horizon mi start read the Bible and start look pon life in a different way," he said.

"Mi grow up hearing that if yuh live by the gun yuh will die by it, and the Bible say yuh reap what yuh sow. So when mi hear bout mi friend, mi start look inna mi life more seriously. From that mi spend most of my days in jail reading the Bible."

After struggling to reintegrate into society, which included a few stop-start appearances in church, Brown decided to get baptised earlier this month, nearly a decade after leaving prison. Brown said he regrets his crimes and has tried unsuccessfully to seek forgiveness from the relatives of some of his victims.

He is also appealing to Jamaicans who are caught up in criminality to walk away as the rewards are not pretty.

"Two things happen to any man inna badness and that a death or destruction. Mi might never dead, but mi can never get back my youthful days. Mi can never get back the time weh mi spend a jail while mi pickney dem grow. So much a life miss me. So my message to them is to walk away and seek the blessings of the Lord," he said.