Shooting video exhumes memories of 15-y-o killed by policemen
Published:Tuesday | August 3, 2010 | 12:00 AM
Nedburn Thaffe, Gleaner Writer
THE STORY of 15-year-old Jason Smith, a schoolboy who was shot dead by the police while riding his bicycle on his way to purchase a patty, still haunts relatives and residents in Spanish Town eight years later.
With the recent arrest of three policemen who were caught on video beating and shooting to death a man in Buckfield, St Ann, last Thursday, the issue of police excess has been pushed into sharp focus once more.
On Saturday, family, close associates and representative of Jamaicans For Justice gathered at Jason's home to observe an annual candlelight vigil in his honour.
Harsh blow to family
The distant stare on the face of Monica Williams - Jason's mom - as sombre tunes echoed from a sound system at their home on King Street, bore testament that overcoming the loss of a son is no easy task.
She noted that the 2002 killing of her son has dealt a harsh blow to her family, especially since he had never had a previous run-in with the law.
A report issued by law enforcement following the incident on July 9, 2002, stated that a police party was carrying out operations along Burke Road in the Old Capital when they spotted two men on a bicycle and signalled them to stop. The police said the men disobeyed and proceeded to trade bullets with them.
When the shooting ended, Smith was seen along the roadway nursing gunshot wounds. No gun was taken from the scene.
However, persons who witnessed the incident said the police chased, beat and shot Smith in cold blood. During the beating, a number of his teeth were knocked out and one of his ribs broken, they claimed.
Distraught
Williams believes she is just one of a string of Jamaican mothers who have wept over the bodies of innocent sons killed by the police.
"This has been going on for a long time now. The only thing they found on my son was two banana chips and a (bottled) spring water. None o' dem (police) can't say them find any gun on him," the mother lamented.
"I cannot see how all o' this can gwaan and them get off free and still working in the force."
The Jason Smith story was shoved out of the limelight in 2005 after a 12-member Home Circuit Court jury returned a not guilty verdict.
Williams, who has since filed suit in the Supreme Court seeking damages against the attorney general and the three policemen involved in the incident, is to be compensated.
She told The Gleaner, however, that no amount of compensation will ever be enough.