Cops probe if Tabby Diamond killing linked to feud

Screams of anguish filled the air on McKinley Crescent yesterday as residents of the area and relatives of Donald 'Tabby Diamond' Shaw mourned his murder.

Shaw and another person were shot and killed by a gunman on Tuesday night. Three other persons were injured. Shaw, 67, was the lead singer of legendary reggae group The Mighty Diamonds.

Shaw's partner of over four decades, Evonie Henry, was inconsolable as she looked at where he took his last breath. She said she was asleep when she was awakened by explosions and ran outside to see what had transpired.

"Mi drop and mi find miself fight and get up and, when mi get up and come out, a Tabby mi see lay down a grung. Tabby nuh deserve dem kind a summen ya none at all. It better a did mi dem kill than him ... mi can't manage it," she said between tears.

Senior Superintendent of Police Kirk Ricketts, commanding officer for the St Andrew South Police Division, said that, at about 9:40 p.m., the gunman walked up to a group of persons who were standing along the roadway and opened fire. The senior cop said the space has been affected by gang violence for a while.

"The McKinley Crescent and Wint Road areas have been in conflict for some time and preliminary assessment is that this incident originated from a continuation of what has been happening. We are looking at the persons who were affected by the shooting and Mr Shaw has jumped out in this assessment, because he has a son who is known in the space as a violence producer. In fact, the son is currently in our custody on a murder charge. As a result, we are trying to get a better understanding and we are looking to see if the activities of the son could have resulted in this incident," he said.

As Shaw's relatives gathered on the verandah of their family home, members of the church community offered grief counselling and prayers. But gospel music blasting from speaker boxes did very little to quell the pain and tears. Josheina, one of Shaw's nine children, was a picture of grief as the tears streamed down her face. Sitting footsteps away from where her father was killed, she said it is hard to imagine him laying in a body bag.

DISBELIEF

"Mi lift up mi father neck and see bare blood. Oh God. Him lay down on him back and mi lay down on him because mi see people a come fi video him and mi nuh wah see him body on social media. Him just give a man some money to buy a drink fi drink with him. Mi walk way and mi hear 'pam pam pam' and, when mi look, mi see mi father and mi run out go lay down on him. Mi can't believe mi father inna body bag," she wailed.

The atmosphere was also sombre on Wint Avenue. A group of teary-eyed women said Shaw was well loved and did not deserve such a tragic end, as he was the community helper. One of them stated that the area has been peaceful for a while and they are shocked by the shooting.

"I don't know where his killers are from but, when good people dead, it is hard to digest. The feud weh used to gwaan, a long time ting, and the place good where party all start keep back. It sad what really happen man," the woman said.