Prisoner dies in custody, woman shot dead in St Elizabeth

BY GARFIELD MYERS Editor-at-Large South/Central Bureau myersg@jamaicaobserver.com

Monday, February 20, 2012

SANTA CRUZ, St Elizabeth — The St Elizabeth police were kept busy last Saturday following the death of a man who was in custody awaiting an identification parade, and also a 20-year-old woman who was shot at her home in Brompton.

Police said that Trudy-Ann Green was found in a pool of blood with gunshot wounds to the head and back around 2:00 pm in her house at Speculation District, Brompton, south west St Elizabeth.

Deputy Superintendent Barrington Daley, who heads criminal investigations in St Elizabeth, told the Observer that an early theory is that Green's death could be related to the killing of her child's father, Wayne Salmon late last year. Green was a witness to Salmon's murder.

Daley said that police investigators were determined to ensure that in spite of her death, a statement Green had given to the police would not be in vain.

"Notwithstanding the death of Trudy-Ann, the police will pursue the investigation using the statement she gave with the help of the Evidence Act. We will also be doing our utmost to ensure her killer, or killers, are brought to justice," Daley said.

Close to 15 hours earlier, around 11:15 pm on Friday, Ryan Mullings, 26, was found "unresponsive" in his cell. He was rushed to hospital where he was pronounced dead.

Mullings, of a Manning's Hill Road address in Kingston, was one of two brothers who were cornered, chopped and beaten by an angry mob in Brighton, just outside Santa Cruz, late last month after they and two others allegedly attempted to rob churchgoers at gun point.

His older brother, 32-year-old Canute Mullings died on the spot, while the younger Mullings was treated at hospital and eventually released to the police. A third man alleged to have been involved in the robbery attempt, Andre Walker, otherwise called 'Dog Paw', remains in custody after turning himself over to police accompanied by relatives.

Daley said that police investigators were awaiting a postmortem examination before determining their next move in the probe of Ryan Mullings's death. The Independent Commission of Investigations (INDECOM) had been informed, he said.

Daley also told the Sunday Observer that in response to a number of robberies in Santa Cruz recently, the police had stepped up patrols and operations in this south central town.