Jamaica security update covers Kingston and Spanish Town killings, Clarendon policing and human rights dispute

Police are probing two separate fatal shootings reported on Friday, as a wider security update also highlighted Clarendon’s crime figures and growing criticism of Justice Minister Delroy Chuck over remarks on human rights in Jamaica.

In Kingston Central, 35-year-old Carela Richards of Cue Gardens, Kingston 11, was killed during a gun attack on Maiden Lane about 9:25 p.m. Two other men, ages 21 and 79, were injured. Police said the three men were at a shop when unknown attackers opened fire. Richards died at the scene, the gunmen escaped, and investigators have not yet identified a motive. The Kingston Central Criminal Investigation Branch is handling the case.

Police statistics cited in the update said Kingston Central had recorded four murders up to June 7, down from nine over the same period last year, a 56 per cent decline.

In St. Catherine, 35-year-old Rashin Beckford, also called Pancho, a teacher at Ascot High School in Portmore, was shot dead on March Pen Road in Spanish Town on Friday afternoon. Police reports said he went to an address about 3:15 p.m. after receiving a call that a family member, said to be his mother, was ill and needed help. He was attacked by unknown men, shot several times, taken to Spanish Town Hospital and pronounced dead. The Spanish Town CIB is investigating.

In Clarendon, Inspector Graham Evangelist told Thursday’s Clarendon Municipal Corporation meeting that the parish had recorded 18 murders up to June 2026, one more than the 17 recorded for the same period last year. He said officers, under Senior Superintendent Shane McCalla, had increased operations and were maintaining 24-hour coverage in identified hotspots. He also said contingency plans were in place for vulnerable police stations during the hurricane season.

Evangelist urged parents to monitor children loitering in town centres after hours, saying police patrols and community safety officers were trying to address the issue.

Meanwhile, Jamaicans for Justice executive director Mickel Jackson rejected Chuck’s statement that Jamaica does not have a human rights problem. She cited children detained for uncontrollable behaviour, fatal police shootings, prolonged detention without charge, discrimination affecting people living with HIV and LGBT Jamaicans, and poor prison conditions. Opposition justice spokesperson Zuleika Jess also called for Chuck to withdraw the remark.