Teen footballer falls victim to gang feud

A promising high school footballer who dropped out of Holy Trinity High School this year, reportedly as a result of the deadly ongoing feud between the Darksyde and Genasyde gangs in Kingston Central, was gunned down in a brazen daylight gun attack on Wildman Street last week.

Eighteen-year-old Jaheem Morrison, otherwise called ‘Teto’, of a Wildman Street address, was killed about 1:25 p.m. on October 13.

It was reported that he was at a house on Wildman Street and had just stepped outside in the yard when he was attacked.

His mother, Jacqueline Thompson, said that the teen, whose birthday was on October 3, had stopped going to school and did not return this term as he feared that he could be killed. He would have been in fifth form.

She explained that Jaheem, who lived on Rum Lame, which is aligned to the Darksyde Gang, feared going to school because he had to pass through communities aligned to Genasyde. It was also his fear that he could be attacked at school.

“Dem come after him two times already, but dem never get the chance,” the mother said while explaining that her son had twice fled upon spotting armed men entering into the community.

“Him don’t walk in the community; him run. He was really living in fear,” she added.

Thompson said Jaheem was not aligned with any of the gangs. Neither was he caught up in any negativity.

Thompson said that Jaheem had friends on the opposing sides with whom he went to school.

She told The Gleaner that her son wanted to become a professional football player and was disappointed when he was forced to pull out of school.

“Him a say how this mash him up, mash up him life,” she recalled.

Thompson explained that Jaheem had also stopped going to school while in grade 10, but had resumed classes after the football coach and the school’s principal visited him and encouraged him to return.

The mother said that she had also considered sending him to rural Jamaica, but he had objected.

“Him a say ‘How mi a go move and deh a country? How mi a go play ball? Mi nah go get fi play no Manning Cup. I always wah play Manning Cup’,” Thompson said.

When she heard gunshots ringing out nearby while at home last Thursday, she had no idea that it was one her four children who was being killed.

When the mayhem subsided and she went to investigate, she was informed that her son had been shot.

“Mi never believe,” she said. “Mi never think it real. Mi couldn’t believe.”

Thompson described Jaheem as a jovial youngster, who often said he was going to be a “big baller” and take care of her.

They were in the process of looking about documents for him to take up a factory job when he was killed.

“Him have him TRN (taxpayer registration number) already and mi did ago look bout him ID and him NIS (National Insurance Scheme number) because him say him can’t work without the ID, so mi tell him cousin say fi get mi a drive fi carry him down deh so ‘cause down deh so a di enemy zone. We can’t walk go down deh,” the mother said.

In the meantime, residents say the killing have left them on the edge, especially as gunshots have continued to ring out daily in the community since the attack. They are bracing for another explosion of violence between the gangs.

But commander for Kingston Central Police Division, Superintendent Berrisford Williams, said that cops are aware of the challenges in the space associated with warring gangs and intra-gang activities, which continue to be a major concern.

He said that his team has increased its operational activities to include more mobile and foot patrols in the area and will be going after the alleged gangsters.

tanesha.mundle@gleanerjm.com