The Tribune

By PAVEL BAILEY

Tribune Staff Reporter

pbailey@tribunemedia.net

A MAN allegedly stabbed his father during an argument five hours into the new year, the first murder of 2024.

Police said a 51-year-old man was killed and his son was detained at their family home in Western New Providence.

Police Commissioner Clayton Fernander, meanwhile, said crime declined in 2023 compared to 2022, but police will be more aggressive this year.

He spoke after the country recorded 110 murders in 2023.

“We intend to be more aggressive to continue to have that crime trend go down we will be out there in full force,” Commissioner Fernander said. “We will be out there in full force within our community. The bottom line is prevention. We want to prevent these things from happening, so you will see our Urban Renewal team, along with all other government agencies and the private sector.”

“We don’t know when these murders will happen, but conflict, we have to go hard in our communities. We have to be able to deal with that to educate the young on how to behave themselves. Please just reach out. If you see something, say something.”

Commissioner Fernander said the murder in western New Providence happened around 5am on January 1. 

Last Thursday, a 50-year-old man was stabbed to death by a 36-year-old male suspect on Finlayson Street. The suspect in this matter turned himself into police after he stabbed the victim in the head with a knife after the two got into an argument.

The victim succumbed to his injuries in hospital after he was taken there in a private vehicle.

Police are also investigating the murder of a 38-year-old male who was shot and killed by two male culprits on Stanton Street at around 2pm on New Year’s Eve.

Initial reports say that two male suspects got into an altercation with the victim before he was shot and killed by his assailants.

A 27-year-old male is in custody in connection with this shooting after he was arrested in the Yellow Elder Gardens area later that same day. Two firearms suspected of being used in the incident were found in the vicinity of the suspect’s arrest.

The Thursday and Saturday murders brought 2023’s murder tally to 110, missing Commissioner Fernander’s goal of keeping the death count under 100.

This figure is still below the murder tally for 2022, when 128 people were killed.