Another St James woman murdered gangland-style

For the second time in just under a week, a St James woman has been murdered as marauding criminals continue to unleash mayhem across volatile communities in the western parish.

To date, the parish has seen 29 murders in 2024. The latest victim is a security guard, identified as 36-year-old Nastacia Smith, of a Valley Heights address, who was murdered at her home on Sunday by gangsters who entered her yard and sprayed her house with bullets. According to reports, Smith and family members were at home, when about 3:30 p.m., they heard gunfire outside the house as windows and doors shattered around them. When the shooting subsided, Smith was found on the floor in one of the rooms covered in blood. It was discovered that she had suffered multiple gunshot wounds to her head and upper body. She died on the spot.

Smith's killing is causing some amount of unease among women in volatile communities in the parish, as while men are generally seen as fair target in gangland warfare, there was an accepted understanding that women and children should not be targeted.

"De man dem a bruk the code ... no man nuh suppose to a kill no woman ... a idiot thing that," a female resident from Valley Heights told THE STAR yesterday. "I hope the man dem (gangsters) put back de order in place because this nuh look good."

Smith's killing comes sharply on the heels of that of Glendevon resident Sudean Hylton, who was killed last Thursday in Darliston, Westmoreland, where she had taken up residence after she was ordered by the St James Parish Court to reside outside of the parish. At the time of her death, Hylton was out on bail on a murder charge. She was implicated in the 2021 shooting death of Glendevon businessman Richard 'Jimmy' Baker, who was killed in a drive-by shooting along Salt Spring Road, also in St James.