Drowning, child murder and custody death mark Jamaica crime roundup

Jamaican police on Wednesday identified a Caribbean Maritime University student whose body washed ashore at Old Wharf in Treasure Beach, St. Elizabeth, a day after he went missing while swimming. Jaleel Simpson had been visiting relatives when he got into difficulty in a strong undertow on Monday. Residents tried to rescue him but could not. His body was found on Tuesday.

Separately, Frankfield police are investigating the suspected homicide of 17-year-old Brintey Shaw, a Knox Community College student and Carty Hill resident near James Hill in northern Clarendon. About 8:25 p.m. on Tuesday, officers were called to the family home after a relative found him inside a chicken coop.

In Troy, Trelawny, relatives are mourning 10-year-old Shenai Keisha Cook, whose partially nude body was found Tuesday with her throat slashed. Mid-afternoon that day, she was walking home from a shop along a roadway near her home when she was abducted. A farmer searching for his cow after hearing noises in the bushes made the discovery and raised an alarm.

Aunt Shana Williams-Stephens, speaking Wednesday beside the child’s mother, Akim Williams, said Shenai lived with her grandparents, excelled at Troy Primary School, and had recently been recognised for summer school. "When you look at her, you see the next doctor, lawyer, and they just took her life. Just cut her off. Right now, we are devastated," Williams-Stephens said, later adding through tears that the girl might have lifted her mother from poverty.

After the body was found, residents attacked a father and son said to be Shenai’s relatives. Locals accused the son of raping and killing the child. He was beaten, chopped and stoned to death; his father was also assaulted and admitted to hospital. Police named the dead man as Delroy Coke but released no further details.

The child’s father, Ron Coke, also called Junior, said her grandmother had sent her to the shop and she never returned. "Someone stopped her on the street and they disturbed her somehow and they slashed her throat," he told journalists, recalling her last weekend visit and saying the neighbourhood of Troy had long waited for justice.

In Greater Norwood, St. James, police are probing suspected murder and attempted suicide after a woman died of chop wounds and a man was hospitalised after ingesting what appeared to be poison. An altercation about 10:00 a.m. on Wednesday allegedly left the woman with fatal chops. Unconfirmed reports said the couple were in divorce proceedings. The woman’s name and the man’s condition have not been disclosed.

The Independent Commission of Investigations has opened a probe into the death of Horace Williams of East Albion, St. Thomas, who fell ill in custody at the Duhaney Park Police Station in St. Andrew. Arrested on July 2 in a murder investigation and held at the Corporate Area Police Station pending court, he became ill on the afternoon of July 21, was taken to Kingston Public Hospital and was pronounced dead. INDECOM has not disclosed the circumstances. Up to Wednesday, 15 deaths in custody had been reported this year across correctional facilities and police stations. A post-mortem is expected.