19-y-o charged with Kidd Lane triple murder A 19-year-old man has been charged with three counts of murder in connection with last Friday’s deadly attack on Kidd Lane, off Spanish Town Road in St Andrew, which claimed the lives of two women and a one-year-old boy. The accused, Dante Davis, who has addresses on Spanish Town Road and Kidd Lane in Kingston 13, is also facing charges of conspiracy to commit murder, arson, conspiracy to commit arson, possession of a prohibited weapon, unauthorised possession of ammunition and using a firearm to commit a felony.
Ruel Reid named in evidence on six retail purchases in fraud trial A smart television and a foot spa were among six items former Education Minister Ruel Reid purchased from a retail chain over a near five-week period in 2018, according to evidence of a witness in his fraud trial. Reid was appointed education minister and a government Senator in March 2016 and resigned in March 2019 amid fraud allegations. While giving evidence in the Kingston and St Andrew Parish Court yesterday, the witness confirmed that the Samsung smart TV and an Android TV box were purchased at the company’s St Andrew branch on March 12, 2018.
Ruddock was beaten, threatened into confession, defence claims Defence counsel Anthony Williams on Thursday sought to portray his client, murder accused Andre Ruddock, as a man who never confessed to the police to killing his church sister but was beaten, threatened, and put in fear for his life to give a caution statement. Williams advanced the claims during continued cross-examination of a detective constable in Ruddock’s trial for the October 17, 2021, murder of Taneka Gardner at Pathways International Kingdom Restoration Ministries.
Trelawny councillor wants funeral homes to pay for public burial spots WESTERN BUREAU: Garth Wilkinson, councillor for the Falmouth division in the Trelawny Municipal Corporation (TMC), wants funeral homes to pay a fee to secure burial spots in public cemeteries to help generate funding for their upkeep. Wilkinson made his position known as he moved a resolution at last Thursday’s monthly meeting of the TMC in Falmouth.
Cops suspect dog severed farmer’s head after natural death WESTERN BUREAU: The St James police have ruled out murder in the death of 74-year-old Maroon Town farmer Anthony ‘Tony’ Thompson, whose body was found with the head detached. Instead, they now suspect that it was a case of his dog interfering with his body after he had died of natural causes.
Tameya Brown turns pain into purpose with debut book WESTERN BUREAU: At the age of 11, Tameya Brown experienced a deeply distressing violation of her innocence by someone her family knew and trusted. Now as an adult, the Salt Spring, St James, native has decided to share that painful chapter of her life in her book, A Touch of the World but More of Christ. In Chapter Three of the book, Brown describes the confusion she experienced when the person who made her feel uncomfortable was someone her family had welcomed into their lives.
HIV CARE GAP The AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) Jamaica is calling for urgent action to reach the thousands of people living with HIV in Jamaica who are not receiving treatment. In a statement yesterday, the AHF, which works to expand access to HIV prevention, testing, and treatment, sexual and reproductive health services, advocacy, and community-based health education, pointed to national data showing that Jamaica has an estimated 28,000 people living with HIV, approximately 26,500 of whom have been diagnosed. However, only 14,716 – or 53 per cent – are documented as receiving treatment.
US Embassy to host 2026 EducationUSA College Fair for Jamaican students Jamaican students seeking opportunities to pursue higher education in the United States (US) will have the chance to connect with representatives from more than 20 leading American colleges and universities at next week’s 2026 EducationUSA College Fair.
Reckoning over rights - Osborne challenges Chang’s stance on US deportation lawsuits, warns Jamaica could face scrutiny over rights safeguards National Security Minister Dr Horace Chang’s assertion that legal challenges in the United States (US) against its third-country deportation policy are of no concern to Jamaica has drawn criticism from civil society advocate Kay Osborne. Osborne described Chang’s statement as a “convenient deflection”, arguing that it sidesteps the Government’s responsibility to protect human rights under international law, including the obligation not to transfer people to places where they face torture or persecution.
IC can’t query fund sources for MPs’ prior purchases – complaints director The Integrity Commission (IC) has moved to set the record straight about information it has requested from parliamentarians on assets they acquired, in some instances before becoming legislators. Delroy Chuck, a member of the Integrity Commission Oversight Committee (ICOC), said yesterday that parliamentarians had shared with him requests from the IC for information about assets they acquired years ago, in some cases dating back decades.