NIGHT OF HORROR

WESTERN BUREAU:

“Him nuh trouble nobody. Him nuh business what happen, him nuh trouble nobody.”

That was Gloria Robinson’s repeated declaration on Tuesday as she spoke of her 51-year-old son, Cordel Graham, who was one of four persons shot dead in an attack by gunmen at his Duanvale, Trelawny home on Monday night.

Graham was killed along with his 43-year-old common-law wife, Nicole White, his 27-year-old cousin Akeem Robinson, and Robinson’s 21-year-old girlfriend, Amelia Livingston, when gunmen stormed the family’s house and shot the four several times. Robinson and Livingston were said to have been visiting the other couple at the time of the attack.

Four minors, ages three to nine, including Graham and White’s two children, were also in the house at the time of the attack, which took place some time around 10 p.m. The children were not harmed.

When The Gleaner visited the community on Tuesday, it was a sombre atmosphere as family members and residents struggled to come to grips with the quadruple killing.

One relative could be heard mourning, saying, “Sheena gone. Sheena nuh deserve this,” referencing White’s pet name.

The elderly Robinson, who lived downstairs from where the attack took place, recounted how she heard strange noises coming from upstairs at the time.

“Mi sit down same place here so, and mi hear boom-boom-boom, like somebody a knock something to open. But, because mi can’t move, mi sit down and listen, and mi nuh hear no knocking again. Mi say to myself, ‘A wha Sheena and Cordel up there a knock? If God spare mi life a morning, mi haffi ask them a wha dem deh knock’,” Robinson said.

“Mi nuh hear nothing more so ‘til mi hear the door a knock, and I sent the little boy who was with me to open the door, and when he opened the door, I heard one of the children say, ‘They kill my pa and my ma up a di house’. Same time, the other little child run in and say to me, ‘Mama, they kill Mommy and Daddy. Gunman come in and shoot Mommy,’ and I said, ‘A lie you a tell’,” Robinson added.

The senior citizen remembered Graham as a peaceful man who never got into arguments with others, no matter how much he was provoked.

“The whole night mi nuh sleep. Mi nuh sleep none at all,” Robinson said. “Him nuh trouble nobody.”

Family friend Tony Small also remembered Graham, affectionately nicknamed ‘Bia’, as a helpful man who did not get into conflicts with other people.

“Bia was a straight man, and if mi ask him to do anything, him do it. I don’t know of any mix-up against him,” Small said with much sorrow as he fought back tears. “He was a close friend from mi come to Trelawny 30 years ago.”

Area One police chief Assistant Commissioner of Police Clifford Chambers said the killings may have been linked to a November 2017 double murder in Kinloss. Robinson was a suspect in that case.

Robinson was also suspected of having been involved in lottery scamming and was reportedly in a dispute with other persons in Kinloss prior to his death.

Trelawny Northern Member of Parliament Tova Hamilton strongly condemned the deadly shooting while offering condolences to the victims’ relatives.

“I am very worried for the country and the direction I see us heading. The recurring acts of violence make devastating incidents like what happened last night in Duanvale seem commonplace, and I am very concerned,” said Hamilton.

christopher.thomas@gleanerjm.com