Two suspects in cop family ambush killed
Published:Tuesday | August 12, 2025 | 12:14 AMAdrian Frater/Gleaner Writer
Western Bureau:
There was a sense of relief in St James yesterday as news broke that two alleged gangsters, who were implicated in Saturday night’s gun attack that snuffed out the life of the spouse of a policeman and left him and his five-year-old son badly injured, were reportedly killed in separate confrontations with lawmen.
It was also confirmed yesterday that contrary to reports that the injured child had succumbed to his gunshot injury – which had caused fresh grief across the parish – he was still alive. His father, who was also shot and injured in the incident, also remained hospitalised.
According to police reports, the two alleged gangsters, identified as Andre ‘Likkle Zul’ Reid and Lindel ‘Sassafrass’ Gray, who came on the police’s radar while they were investigating the gun attack on the policeman and his family, were shot dead. Reid was reportedly killed in the Shooters Hill section of Bull Bay, St Andrew; while Gray was killed in Mafoota, St James. Both men were on bail on murder charges.
According to reports, about 8:35 p.m. on Saturday, the policeman and his family members drove to a location in the vicinity of the Elevate Nightclub & Lounge in Reading, St James, where he had arranged to meet an individual with whom he was involved in a motor vehicle transaction. However, shortly after he arrived at the location, they came under gunfire.
The cop’s spouse, 36-year-old Latoya Crystal Stephenson, a human relations manager of Montego Bay West Village, was hit several times and died on the spot. The cop and their young son were seriously injured.
Following investigations, Reid and Gray were linked to the shooting, and the police began tracking them down. The police said an AK-47 assault rifle was seized during their confrontation with Reid, who was reportedly under a court order to stay away from St James on condition of his bail. Gray was reportedly armed with an Uzi submachine gun when he was killed.
According to the police, other persons, including an individual who is believed to be the mastermind behind the attack on the policeman and his family members, are currently being sought.
NO ESCAPE FOR PERPETRATORS
In condemning the attack on the policeman and his family during the Jamaica Labour Party’s mass rally in Half-Way Tree, St Andrew, on Sunday, Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness said the persons involved in the incident would not escape punishment for what he said was a heinous act.
Late Sunday, anger swept across St James when it was falsely reported that the child, who suffered a bullet wound to his head, had died. However, yesterday Dr Delroy Fray, the clinical coordinator for the Western Regional Health Authority, told The Gleaner that the child was alive and being cared for by a neurosurgeon.
The child’s father, who is attached to the Area One Lottery Scam Task Force, suffered gunshot wounds to his upper body. In the last medical update on him, it was stated that he was still in a serious condition.