Jamaica news roundup: police probe deaths, road crash and court evidence

Jamaican police are investigating several serious incidents reported on Thursday, May 21, 2026, including a suspected suicide in St. Mary, a fatal attack in Westmoreland, a murder charge in St. James and a crash that injured at least 41 people.

In St. Mary, investigators are probing the death of 43-year-old contractor Anro Roberts, also known as Nymph, of Comy, Highgate. Police reports said a relative went behind his house about 10 a.m. after detecting a foul odour and found his partially decomposed body in a bushy area by a tree. His death is being treated as the parish’s fifth suspected suicide for the year.

In Retreat, Westmoreland, crime scene investigators responded after residents identified a slain labourer as Vinroy Holes, said to be in his 40s. Reports indicated he was attacked while inside his home early Wednesday and his head was partially severed.

St. James detectives have charged 31-year-old Dne Watson with murder in connection with the death of his American wife, 35-year-old Melissa Samoth, also referred to in the report as Sam North. Police said she had a New York address and was taken to Cornwall Regional Hospital on April 29 with multiple injuries before being pronounced dead. Watson reportedly surrendered last week with help from relatives and police in the Gil community of St. Mary.

Police also confirmed that at least 41 people were hurt Wednesday morning when a coaster bus hit a concrete median at the stoplight near the May Pen entrance to the Williamsfield toll road. Images shared online showed a yellow bus crushed against the barrier, but authorities could not confirm whether another vehicle was involved.

In the Home Circuit Court, defence lawyers challenged Agriculture Minister Floyd Green’s evidence in the murder trial of Sergeant Simroy Mut, Corporal Donovan Fullerton, constables Andrew Smith, Sheldon Richards, Orandy Rose and Richard Lynch. The case concerns the January 12, 2013 shooting deaths of Matthew Lee, Ucliffe Dyer and Mark Allen on Aadia Drive, St. Andrew. Green, an alleged eyewitness, maintained under cross-examination that he was truthful about what he saw from his bedroom window, including a man with papers near a blue Mitsubishi Outlander and another man in a white shirt in the road.