Mother and son murdered in same spot three years apart

A bloodied plastic chair and dirty black clothes thrown on a wall bore testament of Wednesday night's slaying of 59-year-old Irene Laing, who was shot by gunmen outside her home on Nelson Road, Whitfield Town, St Andrew.

Ironically, according to residents, it is the same spot where Laing's son, Delano Messam, was shot and killed in May 2021.

"A right in her hand him dead, same place right there. She come dead same place," one resident, who opted not to be named, told THE STAR. In another twist of fate, a suspect in that shooting, Romario Grant, otherwise called 'Kaka', is also a suspect in this incident.

According to commanding officer of the St Andrew South Police Division, Superintendent Damion Manderson, "the murder along Nelson road, Whitfield Town was committed by two men who alighted from a motor vehicle and opened gunfire at a female. She was rushed to the hospital where she was pronounced dead upon arrival". Manderson said that the St Andrew South Criminal Investigations Branch was seeking Grant, who also goes by the alias 'Irons', "in relation to this incident and for a previous murder in the Nelson Road area".

The tension on Nelson Road was palpable when the news team visited the community, with residents speaking in hushed tones among themselves. One elderly resident described Laing as caring and helpful, who assisted him in getting his medication.

"I have a problem with my prostate and I go to doctor and, when I come back, she [took me] everywhere that them say I should go. She set the appointments for me to do MRI and when I should go back. She is a good person. I don't have a fancy phone and is she help me to talk to my family overseas because she have WhatsApp," the resident said.

"Me a have a rough time. Me lose a friend," he added.