St Catherine teacher among victims in Jamaica crime and death roundup

Police are investigating a series of fatal incidents across Jamaica, including the killing of a St Catherine teacher, a deadly police confrontation in Clarendon, and a family dispute in St Elizabeth that left one man dead and two relatives critically injured.

Rashin Beckford, 35, also known as Poncho, a teacher at Oscar High School in Portmore, was shot on Friday afternoon after reportedly going to March Pen Road in Spanish Town to assist a sick relative said to be his mother. Police said he was attacked by unknown men and later pronounced dead at Spanish Town Hospital. The Spanish Town CIB is investigating, and no motive has been established.

In Effortville, Clarendon, 23-year-old O’Neal Hamilton of Oliver Gardens, May Pen, was fatally shot during an alleged confrontation with members of the Area 3 anti-fugitive team. The Jamaica Constabulary Force said one officer was hit in the chest area, but his protective vest prevented serious injury. A firearm was reportedly seized, and INDECOM has been notified.

Kingston Central detectives are also probing a gun attack on Maiden Lane that killed 35-year-old Carela Richards of Seaview Gardens, Kingston 11. Two other men, ages 21 and 79, were injured after gunmen opened fire at a shop about 9:25 p.m.

In St Catherine, police suspect 52-year-old Devon Macdonald of Georgia District drowned after going to bathe in a river. He reportedly had epilepsy and mental illness and had recently left hospital.

St Elizabeth police have detained a 19-year-old after his brother, 21-year-old construction worker Travis Williams of Stevenson Town, was chopped to death at the family home. Their 43-year-old mother and 14-year-old sibling were hospitalised in critical condition.

Police also said Paul Stevenson, 51, of Old Harbour, St Catherine, has been charged with murder after his fiancée, 29-year-old T.S. Singh of Clarendon, died after allegedly being injected with a toxic substance during a May 9 dispute.