Three Hills victims laid to rest

Carl Gilchrist, Gleaner Writer

Ocho Rios, St Ann:

Four family members who were shot dead at their home in Three Hills, St Mary, on April 7 were laid to rest in St Ann yesterday.

The four, 72-year-old Valdie Brown; his wife Rachel, 79; her son Fitzroy Townsend, and the couple's granddaughter, 17-year-old Jorgjhan Flynn ('JJ'), were buried in the St Ann's Bay cemetery after an emotional thanksgiving service at the Ocho Rios Seventh-day Adventist Church.

International Evangelist, Pastor Glen O. Samuels in his homily, reflecting on the spate of multiple murders in Jamaica, said politicians at Gordon House cannot solve Jamaica's ills.

"Gordon House must be led by the spirit of the living God," he said.

The church was jam-packed and overflowing into the yard and on to Milford Road long before the scheduled 11 o'clock start and this forced the service to begin early.

Relatives, friends, well-wishers and even strangers turned out to pay their last respects to a family many remember as being "a good family".

They included Cadets and students from Manchester and York Castle high schools, and members of the Montego Bay-based Dynasty Sports and Games Club.

Patrick Maxwell, a relative, spoke glowingly of Mrs Brown.

"Her children remember her always giving them a reason to laugh and that her laughter brought life to the entire household," he said.

"She would tell them when they were fretful they should 'stay on knee city', meaning that they should always be prayerful and keep God in the midst of everything," Maxwell added.

Michelle Brown paid tribute to Mr Brown and Pedro Riley spoke in memory of Townsend.

The event was not without its controversy. Councillor for the Beecher Town division in St Ann, Ian Bell, was interrupted as he began to speak by a woman who shouted her disapproval of him. "Not today!" the woman shouted, thinking he was a policeman.

Bell was later allowed to make his contribution to the ceremony.

The four victims were shot and killed by a policeman, Wayne Llewellyn, who became a part of the family after he married the Browns' daughter, Joan. Llewellyn shot himself to death after committing the murders.

Joan, meanwhile, is recovering in hospital after she was shot in the neck by her husband.

"Every now and then, life presents us with mountains to climb and burdens too heavy to bear," Pastor Samuels told the gathering.

He urged the congregation to put their faith in God and warned that putting locks on front and back doors and police at every corner would not help the situation.

Meanwhile, shortly before 1 o'clock yesterday, a woman in the churchyard broke down crying after receiving a phone call of a suicide in Sandy Bay.

The victim, a teenage girl, took her life while her grandparents were attending the funeral.