‘Females nuh safe in Jamaica again’

Sleuths have probed the murders of 619 women between 2019 and 2023, averaging 124 female homicides annually, according to data published by the Statistical Institute of Jamaica (STATIN).

With 32 days remaining in 2024, this year’s toll is still being tallied, but the troubling trend of women being brutally killed continues.

While the STATIN data did not indicate the weapon used in these murders, firearms remain the predominant tool of violence in the country.

On Monday, November 25, Jamaica joined other countries in observing the United Nations International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, which aims to raise awareness about violence against women through 16 days of activism until December 10 and emphasises the importance of prevention.

Despite the observation, two women were among three people gunned down roughly 18 hours apart between Wednesday evening and Thursday morning in two volatile St Andrew communities.

About 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday, 60-year-old businesswoman Joan ‘Millicent’ Hermit was killed inside her shop at 71 Hill Avenue in the Marl Road community.

Investigators from the said St Andrew South Police Division were, on Thursday morning, summoned to Pacific Boulevard in Seaview Gardens, where Etta Midgette and her 49-year-old spouse, Fabian ‘Finger’ Edwards, were shot dead inside their hardware store. The murder reportedly took place at 10:35 a.m.

Hermit’s relatives gathered close to the shop in the aftermath of the deadly attack, which was carried out by unknown assailants.

“It really bothers [us] because is like we and everybody good. Mi still a ask the question why someone would a hurt her,” said sister Verna Hermit.

Verna told The Gleaner that she saw was not very far away when she heard the gunshots ring out.

“The person came out ... most likely ordered something because she (victim) opened the little [counter] door to put out goods,” Verna said, adding that the killer quickly fled the scene in a waiting motor car.

Hermit was shot multiple times in the neck and shoulder and was taken to hospital, where she was pronounced dead.

The family said Hewit operated her wreath and cake business while also being actively involved in politics, being a party worker for the People’s National Party.

“She is a lady weh ever a try, always giving away something. As long as she have it, she is gonna help. She go the extreme. If she could help yuh get a visa, you a get it,” her nephew, Gary Lawrence, said.

Hermit’s only child, schoolteacher Donisha Hunt-Chambers, said she last saw her mom about an hour before the attack.

“I saw her before 4 o’clock. I came but I had to leave quickly because I had something to do. I said to her, ‘Mommy, I can’t stay with you late’,” Hunt-Chambers said before her voice started to crack.

“I’m an only child. She was my best friend. Everything we do together. If her head hurts, mine hurts. If my head hurts, fi har head hurts … . She is my biggest cheerleader. Once I say, ‘Mommy, I am doing this’, she’s very supportive. No matter how tired she is, no matter what I am doing, she is there,” Hunt-Chambers said as relatives consoled her.

She said that although she had known a day would come when their bond would be broken, she did not expect it to happen in such a violent manner.

“I knew one day, but not so,” she said.

Over the last five full years, 2021 saw the most women being murdered in the island with 133 reports. There were 113 women killed in 2020, the lowest for the period.

Although Edwards and Midgette did not hail from Seaview Gardens, their violent deaths stunned residents, who described them as very reasonable business operators.

“The man dem just a kill off the woman dem so … ,” one alleged eyewitness said. “A she first dem shoot up. About five shot she get. Him did deh close by and dem shot him up, too. Him drop pon she … . When we go look, a suh we see dem lay down in the shop.”

The couple sold sand, gravel, and building materials in an open lot.

“A nuff house dem help build ‘round here. Dem have payment plan options and just operate themselves in a businesslike manner,” one resident said, while showing The Gleaner a recent receipt issued by the establishment.

Even though the female homicide numbers pale in comparison to their male counterparts, a female Seaview Garden resident said she did not feel safe.

“One time you never had to worry if yuh nuh trouble anybody, but now, if di man dem can’t catch who dem want, dem a come murder we. Females nuh safe in Jamaica again. Don’t trick yourself and say because you are a woman yuh three points (life) safe,” the resident said.

The Hunts Bay Criminal Investigation Branch is investigating both incidents.

Up to November 23, the St Andrew South Police Division recorded 107 murders, a four per cent decline year on year.

andre.williams@gleanerjm.com