The Tribune

By EARYEL BOWLEG

Tribune Staff Reporter

ebowleg@tribunemedia.net

A MAN was found dead yesterday on a track road off Graham Drive in Yellow Elder Gardens with apparent gunshot wounds.

Assistant Superintendent Audley Peters told reporters on the scene that the deceased seemed to be in his mid-30s and that there is no indication that he is a resident of the area. When questioned how long the body had been there, he said it appeared that rigor mortis had already set in and estimated the deceased had been there about 12 hours.

Shortly before 7am officers from the Operations Unit were on routine mobile patrol on Graham Drive when they were alerted by a concerned citizen that a body was found unresponsive on a track road.

“The officers went through that track road which runs parallel to Graham Drive and is commonly referred to as ‘The Gulf’. On their arrival, they found a Negro male lying on the ground unresponsive with apparent gun shot wounds. Emergency Medical Service was summoned. On completion of their examination, they pronounced the body lifeless.”

A grey car was seen being towed away from the scene as police processed the area.

ASP Peters said the victim was found about 30 feet from the vehicle, but police were not able to confirm whether that vehicle was owned by the victim.

When asked if the victim was wearing an ankle bracelet, the press liaison officer said: “The victim has rights and (I) will respect the rights of the victim.”

According to ASP Peters, this is not the first time a body has been found in the area.

The area, which housed a former airport, has normally been used for criminal activities in the past, he said. “This is an area that we don’t suggest that individuals travel to. If you look at the terrain, anything notorious is liable to happen in an area such as this,” he said.

“Normally this area would be used for, if you look behind you there’s a Junkanoo shack. One of our Junkanoo groups has a shack in the back here where they prepare themselves during the Junkanoo season.

“However, school students from time-to-time would’ve traversed this area because it was a common area for them to traverse to go from the Englerston and Grove community to get to school. However, I guess through time the terrain has grown and we see what we have here where it’s a shady area where persons can hide and do whatever notorious actions that come to their mind.”

One long-time resident said he used to walk through the shortcut as a child, when the bushes were not so overgrown.

“They need to clean it up,” the resident, who did not want to be named, said. “They (criminals) know once they are back here they can do anything they want to do and just get away.”

He recounted a couple of bodies being found on the track road, particularly the discovery of two boys. Back in 2017, two teens were found shot to death on a dirt road off Graham Drive. It was reported Keishon Williams, 13, and Davante Lindsey, 15, were found side-by-side and appeared to have been shot execution style.

The resident also said Yellow Elder Gardens is not safe at night as “fellas killing for nothing”. He says the community needs a police station for it to feel safer.

“They need the police consistently because the fellas them, they’ll see when police coming through and then when they done pass through, every night you hearing all kinds of gun shots and stuff like that (sic),” he said.

ASP Peters said police are seeing an increased use of firearms as a result of altercations and asked individuals to report people they know are in possession of these illegal weapons.

This is the tenth homicide this year, according to The Tribune’s records.