Cops probe second Homestead murder in four days

Gunmen struck again in Homestead, St Catherine, Sunday morning, killing 34-year-old barber Alanzo Bennett at his home.

This follows on the heels of Thursday night’s gang-related killing of 33-year-old Damian Marlyn and the wounding of three other people at an illegal party in the community.

But while the police did not offer a motive for Sunday’s killing, in which gunmen forced their way into Bennett’s Pittsburgh Avenue home shortly after 5 a.m. and shot him multiple times in the upper body, his aunt believes that robbery was the basis of the attack.

“Mi hear gunshot this morning, but I was on my bed praying at the time, and then somebody come and call me after nine and say if mi nuh hear say mi nephew dead inna him house,” said the relative, who asked not to be named because of safety fears.

The aunt said when she got to the house, a bag he had with a substantial sum of money was missing.

“I will not say the amount, but mi know for sure that him have the money save up to repair him house and they take it, so mi know the motive is robbery,” she claimed.

According to the aunt, Bennett was a hard-working barber who rented a shop in Angels, Spanish Town. She insists that he was not involved in crime.

“I am a praying aunt, and mi always hear about dem kind of shooting, but mi never dream say it would a come to mi doorstep,” she told The Gleaner.

After Thursday night’s deadly shooting, the security forces said they would maintain a strong presence in Homestead to mitigate against reprisals.

Acting Senior Superintendent Dwayne Wellington, who is in charge of the St Catherine North Police Division, said that Thursday night’s shooting, which occurred at a gambling house on Mansfield Avenue in Homestead, was gang related and could be a reprisal for several murders that have happened in the area.

Wellington said no permit was granted for the staging of the night-time party.

“We don’t sanction any party in that space because of the ongoing gang-related feud,” he said.

Wellington said he could not comment on claims that the deceased man was a relative of a known community don, adding that the investigations were ongoing.

However, a source who was at the party told The Gleaner that Marlyn was related to the community don and was the target of the gun attack.

“I was right there holding a vibes when the two gunmen came through the gate and go up to the bredren and start shooting him. Everybody start to run all over the place, some people pick up ‘corn’ from stray bullet,” the source revealed, referencing slang for gunshots.

ruddy.mathison@gleanerjm.com