A farmer was gunned down along a lonely mountain road in Layou on Thursday as the violence continued in the Central Leeward town, one day before police are scheduled to hold an anti-violence rally there.
Dead is Jimodean “Jim” Sam, 45, of Akers Road, Layou, the fourth person to be killed in the town in six weeks, bringing the homicide count in St. Vincent and the Grenadines this year to a record 50.
Sam, a father of three daughters, aged 13, 3 and 1, was killed sometime after 5 p.m. near the Layou Petroglyph Park and cemetery, along a lonely road leading to the heart of the farming district on the outskirts of the town.
One person who said they saw the body told iWitness News that Sam received several gunshots “all to the head, plus two chops behind the neck”.
People outside the police cordon tried to make sense of the killing, with many of them describing Sam as a hardworking farmer who was not involved in violence.
One person speculated that Sam might have been killed because he was reported to have been in the area where one of the three other murders in Layou since October took place.
There was no suggestion that Sam was in any way involved in any of the killings and residents speculated that his killer(s) might have felt that he might had seen something.
His death comes five days after Leon Gaymes, 26, was gunned down in the presence of his girlfriend and their 3-year-old son in the patio of his girlfriend’s house in Texier Road, Layou, around 8 p.m. Saturday.
Gaymes was shot six times in the chest and once in the arm.
Meanwhile, on Nov. 5, Tambu Patrick, 39, died after being shot multiple times by assailant(s) who pursued him even as he attempted to find refuge in a nearby home in Ruthland Vale, Layou.
Two brothers were taken into custody in connection with that killing but were both released without charge.
On Oct. 16, Delano “Smoke” Patrick died in hospital, where he was taken after being shot in Middle Street, Layou around 1 a.m.
Sources said that he was shot some 10 times.
On Tuesday, police announced that they will hold a march and rally — dubbed “Love is the Answer” — against crime and violence in Layou on Friday.
The march commences at 10 a.m. at Velox Corner, through Rutland Vale, Cashville, onto the Layou Public Road then to the Layou Waterfront to commence the rally.
The rally will hear remarks by acting Commissioner of Police Enville Williams, Divisional Commander of the South Western Division, Assistant Superintendent of Police Nigel Butcher and Parliamentary Representative for Central Leeward, Orando Brewster.
It will include a pledge by a member of the Layou Police Youth Club and will also hear a short exhortation as well as special prayers by members of the clergy for the community at large, law enforcement officers, community leaders and the youth.
The event will also include performances by cultural icon and Layou resident, Alston “Becket” Cyrus and others.
Police are asking people attending the rally to wear white and are encouraging the public and the media to attend.
This is getting g out of hand now
Whatever is the answer against crime and violence in Layou, it is certainly not some abstract notion of “love” or holding yet another useless rally.
Blaming the police is also a worthless endeavour because the root cause lies in our maladaptive systems of education and family life: a disproportionate number of murdered men and their murderers are school dropouts raised solely by never-married promiscuous women, a terrible way to nurture thoughtful, productive, loving, and law abiding males.
Layou my hometown I love you a millon , for you I am praying my heart is bleeding. Karma I a reality.
I demand the killings stop
Love is not the answer! Respect and discipline are the answer to the problem is my hometown. Is the march all there is to offer the town? What has Brewster to offer since he won the seat? He wasn’t strong in his support for the fishermen and people who demanded Jackson Bay be left as is.
This entertainment show has no ingredients to support employment and job opportunities. The churches in Layou were not fully involved. Those entertainment packages will not stop the chaos, because when folks get out of bed the next day it, “It’s the same old, same old”.
C.B-David , you mentioned some of the causes of crimes in your locality of Layou, however, i am unsure whether it was by design that you left out one of the chief causes of crimes in your area , vis a vis the economic situation and the adoption of American Style Gangsterism. These are not just symptoms of a problem , but real causes. Criminals are no longer afraid of spending thirty years in jail for capital punishment , given that they know the system very well and they work the system. They are aware that they are entitled to one third discount in their sentences for an early plea. They will never pay for the crimes by execution or hanging, that law although not abolished exist only in name.
A study done in Trinidad after the aftermath of The hanging of Dole Chadee and his gangsters found that execution is a deterrent to capital crimes. For the system to work ,one has to have proper functioning of all arms of the criminal justice system working simultaneously. How can you trust individuals who themselves are corrupt to enforce the law? Chief fighting police “guru” has to take a look at himself and ask the question whether or not he has wherewithal execute to carry out his mandate free any bias or other encumbrances. You be the judge. The execution of ” Rat” is mind boggling even to this day. The men under his command fear no better, recently , a Junior constable, Strongson Soleyn was charged in an alleged rape case. The outcome is still pending.
Small wonder why the citizens of St Vincent have no confidence in the Criminal justice system. The system is even made worse by some corrupt lawyers., they aid and albeit criminal elements for financial gains. They know their names and citizens can identify them by using the viscous arguments they use in the High Court to mitigate the sentences of their clients. The criminal justice system in St Vincent is also weaken by the habit of recycling jurors. This has a negative effect on the proper functioning of the criminal justice system.
If one were to analyze the persons who are disproportionately affected/involved in homicide in St Vincent, they are among the least educated, poor , destitute , high school dropouts and being from parents who themselves have had a very lawless up bring. Social Scientist coined the word “trapped in a vicious circle” to describe this phenomena, the longer this situation exist , the longer it takes to escape from a generation of destituteness. Some of the very characteristics are the relics of slavery that has become generational and have now become burdensome to society. In religion the term generational curse are real issues that become a hurdle to overcome.