From glory to gloom

The St Andrew South police have listed two brothers as persons of interest following the fatal shooting of veteran jockey O’Neil Mullings in Waterhouse, St Andrew, on Sunday night. Mullings, 49, was gunned down outside his home in an incident that has left the local racing community and residents reeling.

The police have identified the men as Samuel and Shaun Brown, both of Four Forty (440) Drive in Kingston 11. The brothers, who are reportedly linked to construction work at Mullings’ home, are being urged to report to the nearest police station as soon as possible. Samuel, the elder brother, is also known by the aliases ‘Shooter’ and ‘Mark’.

The murder unfolded after an alleged dispute over money for services rendered during renovations at Mullings’ house on Thompson View Avenue. According to sources, one brother was handling steelwork, while the other was responsible for carpentry. Tensions reportedly rose when the payment for the steelwork was questioned before the carpentry began, sparking a confrontation with Mullings.

“The steelwork started and the boxing up fi gwan now, and man dem want know how the money going before the ‘carpenting’ start. A dat cause the dispute with him and dem, mi nuh know what happen after that, but Mullo shouldn’t dead so star, yuh nuh see it,” a seemingly very emotional resident told our news team.

The situation escalated hours later on Sunday, when Mullings was shot in the head around 7:15 p.m. while urinating outside his home. He was rushed to the hospital by the police, but was pronounced dead on arrival.

Mullings’ partner reporedly tried to chase one of the attackers down after she saw what had happened, but she didn’t catch them.

The killing has stirred strong emotions in the community, particularly given Mullings’ respected position within the Jamaican horse racing fraternity.

“Him well respected, and nobody knows if it a come off something different than what meets the eyes. People love tek programme and seize opportunity for destruction. People a go feel it because is a man weh the sport glorify and people in a race horse know him. It shouldn’t come to this. Now people a mourn,” a resident told The Gleaner.

“You kill a man over $20,000 to $40,000? Why you never kill yuh breda since a him bring yuh pon di work? Why kill the jockey?” one resident said.

“Everybody a run down donship. From Mark 2 (Mark Harrison) dead … . You go kill dem man deh now, dat nuh look good. Dem man deh a top man, a big jockey. It make the community look ugly … like we can’t resolve the simplest of disputes another way. The first thought is to go for gun?” another questioned.

The murder has cast a dark shadow over the already-troubled Waterhouse area, which is still reeling from the June murder of Harrison, a former strongman linked to the notorious 440 gang. Since Harrison’s death, there have been reports of gang splinter factions exerting growing influence in the area, contributing to an atmosphere of intimidation and violence.

While Mullings was well known and admired in the racing industry, some residents say he had his share of conflicts in the community.

“Him and others ‘round here ‘jump off’’, too. Some people and him ‘gree and some people and him don’t ‘gree. But is a man like this, him try fi deal with everyone. Some people a say a programme run (hit) because of the fresh feud, so we just want the police dem fi look into everything,” a resident of the Kingston 11 community said.

The St Andrew South Police Division, which continues to lead the nation in homicides, is actively investigating the incident. As of September 20, the division had recorded 59 murders for the year, marking a 21 per cent decrease from the 75 murders at the same time last year. The national murder toll stands at 500.

andre.williams@gleanerjm.com