Fear grips Naggo Head as another woman is killed

A blanket of fear hangs over sections of Naggo Head in Portmore, St Catherine, following the slaying of 33-year-old Jodian Thompson, a resident of the embattled community last Saturday.

Thompson, according to residents, is at least the fourth woman to be killed in the community since the start of the year.

"A last week Sunday the last one bury and now this. Nuh woman nah fire nuh gun round here, enuh. Mi nah walk and look behind mi because mi is not a part of the war but mi tell my kids say if dem ever kill mi, just bury mi," said one woman.

According to police reports, about 10:25 a.m. Thompson was in the bus park when she was pounced upon by men who shot her several times. She was taken to the hospital where she was pronounced dead. An alleged eyewitness said Thompson, who was a mother of three, worked in the bus park for years as a cleaner.

"A work she deh and the man push the gun through the window and shoot her and she run, enuh, but she drop and when she drop dem go over har and give har about four. The man dem heartless man. I just know she dead leave her three children and it sad bad," the man said. Yesterday, as the news team entered a lane close to where the incident took place, a man quickly secured his bicycle and dashed into a nearby yard. His eyes were seen peeping through the zinc fence. No other sign of life was visible except for a woman who told the news team that it was unsafe to venture on Bishop Avenue where Thompson once resided. A resident, who said she knew the deceased, said the community is being held under siege by gunmen.

"Is here mi born and grow and we use to walk free but yuh have some who left here and before them buy shoes and clothes dem rather buy guns. Man all deh a farrin and wah run di place. When dem can't catch the man dem, dem take set on dem woman and it can't continue," the resident said.

Meanwhile, head of the St Catherine South Police Division, Senior Superintendent of Police Christopher Phillips, told the media that he believes Thompson's death is linked to an ongoing feud in the community.