Murder tally now 27 as St Joseph villager slain

The homicide rate has climbed to 27 following the death of a 48-year-old man in Little Diamond, St Elizabeth Village, St Joseph. The incident occurred around 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday after an altercation between two men.

Acting Superintendent Roland Cobbler, deputy division commander for the northern division in The Barbados Police Service, briefed reporters at the scene. “Our preliminary investigations revealed that the deceased was involved in an altercation… He received several chops about his body and succumbed to his injuries here at this location.”

The identity of the deceased has not been released pending notification of family members.

Supt Cobbler noted that the other man involved suffered minor injuries. He appealed for public assistance: “We are making an appeal for anyone who can provide any information to assist us with these investigations to contact the District ‘F’ Police Station at 433-1540 or the nearest police station.”

The incident has shocked the usually tranquil St Joseph community. Victor Lewis, a resident of over 50 years, expressed his disbelief: “It shocked me when I came home… I was at the beach, and it shocked me when I came home to hear of an incident of that nature occurring. I mean, that’s my backyard. When I think of the actual gravity of it, where we have a deceased… I’ve been living here now for over 50 years, and I’ve never had a murder in this area at all.”

The incident occurred at this house in St Elizabeth Village.

Lewis highlighted that while farm theft has been a recurring issue in the parish, the escalation to murder was unprecedented. “What I would have observed to a very large extent is that I live in St Joseph, and there’s quite a lot of larceny, and this activity has been going on for a while. I think it’s a very unfortunate thing, the level of crime that we’ve been having in our country now,” he remarked.

Pondering the broader implications, Lewis questioned the direction of society: “Why would some person go to that level to exist? That’s grave. Where’s society going?”

The long-time resident emphasised the communal impact of such crimes. “Here we have the 27th person dying, and I, to some extent, don’t know if I can relate this to the other 26. It is unfortunate,” he noted. “The only thing that I can share here is why would a person go to this end to break into someone’s house to survive? Why? That bothers me. It has reached home, but we are 166 square miles, so it’s in your backyard, it’s in our backyard; how are we going to deal with it? That’s the big question that all of us must answer.”

Victor Lewis is worried about rising crime.

Lewis described the community’s shock, particularly given that the suspect was known locally. “The mood is nothing that can be gauged now because I’m still shocked. They must give me time to wake up. Yeah, I’m shocked, and there are lots of folks in this area. We’re shocked because it’s not a person who came in; it’s a person who is here with us. It’s a person who would pass up and down in front of my house. It’s a person who would say good morning or good evening; it’s not an individual that is a stranger to this area; he’s known; why?” 

Reflecting on the wider implications for the country, Lewis added: “Barbados is now the victim, because all of us continue to suffer because of the 27 lives that have been lost to date, and this is the seventh month of 2024.”

Addressing his personal security measures, Lewis shared: “I know the level of crime that’s going on. So my security is not only my dogs; it’s my cameras. And my cameras will pick up activity all the time. My dogs will pick up activity all the
time.”

A District ‘F’ police investigation into the slaying continues. (RG)