Bolt’s Olympic dance creator shot and killed

[Hortical]

Bolt’s Olympic dance creator shot and killed
Choreographer shot in head, chest during argument at Jamaican nightclub

KINGSTON - The dancer and choreographer who created the dance used by Jamaica sprinter Usain Bolt to celebrate his victories at the Beijing Olympics was shot to death at a Kingston nightclub on Friday, police said.
David Alexander Smith, known in entertainment circles as “Ice,” was shot in the head and chest during an argument with two men. They then took his keys and fled in his car, police said.
Smith created the “Gully Creeper” that Bolt danced each time he won a race at the Olympics last August.

Bolt set world records in the 100 meters and 200 meters and was a member of the Jamaican quartet that won gold in the 100-meter relay.Jamaica has one of the world’s highest per-capita murder rate.More than 1,500 people have been murdered in the Caribbean island this year.

[Historian]

Smith created the “Gully Creeper” that Bolt danced each time he won a race at the Olympics last August.

Bolt set world records in the 100 meters and 200 meters and was a member of the Jamaican quartet that won gold in the 100-meter relay.Jamaica has one of the world’s highest per-capita murder rate. More than 1,500 people have been murdered in the Caribbean island this year.

*Cynicism button turned on*.... This is just what the family of Andrew Smith needs to usher them into the new year. And this is just the type of high-profile headline that tourism-dependent, "beautiful" Jamaica needs in these dire economic times!.... *Cynicism button turned off*

Not only is this really sad incident a great blow for yet another Jamaican family, particularly at a time when they should be celebrating together, but it also shows the hopelessness, stupidity and immaturity of so many in our society! Really, I'm at a loss for words as I try to digest the fact that yet another promising cultural figure, and more importantly, a family man has been cut down senselessly.

Now, I sit and silently await the next gloomy news story emanating from Jamaica. This is all so very stupid!

Dancer 'Ice' shot dead
Third prominent member of Black Roses Crew to be murdered
BY COREY ROBINSON Observer staff reporter robinsonc@jamaicaobserver.com
Saturday, December 27, 2008

Popular dancehall figure, Andrew Smith, also called 'Ice', was gunned down in a bar on Newark Avenue, off Waltham Park Road in Kingston, early yesterday morning.

Smith, 36, a member of the Black Roses Crew based on Lincoln Road in Kingston, was shot in the head and other parts of his upper body by the gunmen who escaped in his rented Mitsubishi Lancer motor vehicle, police said.

Andrew 'Ice' Smith's 12-year-old son Jordan (left) looks on in despair as his aunt, identified only as Pinkie (fourth left), grieves while touching his father's bullet-riddled body as it is being removed by undertakers on Newark Avenue in Kingston yesterday morning. (Photo: Bryan Cummings)

The cops have not determined a motive for his murder but said that they are questioning a female in connection with the incident.

According to onlookers who gathered in front of the ill-fated 'Pon Di Banks' bar, Smith may have been purchasing cigarettes at the establishment when he was accosted by the gunmen.

"The bar was not even open for business. It look like him see the lady over there cleaning up the place and stop to buy some cigarettes. Is that time them come in and kill him," said a male resident of the nearby Mandela Town community who claimed he was a good friend of the dancer.

"Is about four shots fire; the first three were not so loud, but you could hear the other one clearly," added the man.

Ice's body was later found sprawled on its back inside the shop with its head hanging outside the bar's entrance. A pool of blood seeped on the bar steps from a bullet wound to its face.

Yesterday, Smith's sister, identified by onlookers only as 'Pinkie', was a picture of grief as she viewed her brother's body.

The woman, after collapsing repeatedly on the murder scene, shook uncontrollably as relatives fed her a glass of sugar and water.

She chain-smoked about six cigarettes while sleuths from the Major Investigation Task Force combed the scene for clues.

"Me can't believe him really gone," cried another woman, who identified herself only as Nickie and who was said to have been a very close friend of Smith's.

Clutching Smith's 12-year-old son Jordan closely, the woman fought to hold back tears, even as two members of the popular dance group, 'Cadillac Crew' tried to console her.

"He don't deserve this," whispered the woman.

Smith, who is renowned for his invention of the popular 'Gully Creeper' dance, is the third prominent member of Black Roses to be murdered.

He was being touted for leadership of the crew after the murder of popular dancer Gerald 'Bogle' Levy in January 2005. Bogle and four other persons were sitting in his Ford F-150 truck purchasing gasoline at a service station in Half-Way-Tree when two armed men on a grey Honda F4 motorbike rode up and sprayed the vehicle with bullets.

Bogle had ascended to the leadership of the Black Roses Crew after William 'Willie Haggart' Moore was gunned down gangland style by three gunmen in front of his business place at Lincoln Road on the outskirts of Arnett Gardens four years earlier. Two other men, Albert 'Blacka Douche' Bonner and Lowel Hinds, were also slain during that attack.

In 2005, Smith was arrested in connection with murder, several counts of shooting and arson committed in the Kingston West police division.

[Bricktop]

[B]
Not only is this really sad incident a great blow for yet another Jamaican family, particularly at a time when they should be celebrating together, but it also shows the hopelessness, stupidity and immaturity of so many in our society! Really, I'm at a loss for words as I try to digest the fact that yet another promising cultural figure, and more importantly, a family man has been cut down senselessly.

Now, I sit and silently await the next gloomy news story emanating from Jamaica. This is all so very stupid!

Senseless? Family Man? I ain't no expert of Kingston's Inner City but I think's it's safe to say that BLACK ROSES CREW weren't selling girl scout cookies to make ends meet

[Historian]

Can't Argue With You

Senseless? Family Man? I ain't no expert of Kingston's Inner City but I think's it's safe to say that BLACK ROSES CREW weren't selling girl scout cookies to make ends meet

You have a point, Bricktop, and I can’t argue with you. Like you, I’m no expert on the underdeveloped areas of Kingston, but at least I’ve heard of the Black Roses Crew, and so I understand what you’re saying here.

Despite what you said, and despite my agreement with you, we have to admit that with at least one child left behind and with at least one baby mother, he’s a family man in the sense of being a provider (or potential provider) for the needs of the woman and child. But again, I understand the context in which you’re coming from, and in that sense it’s stretching it quite a bit to use the word “family” in association with him.

Shifting gears slightly here, several years ago Mosiah asked a very interesting question on this forum. I wasn’t inclined to post often back then, so I did not respond to the question. Nevertheless, it’s stuck in my mind over the years. Mosiah’s question went like this: Is the life of a white tourist more valuable than the life of a poor black person? (I’m paraphrasing Mosiah here, but this was the essence of his question.)

After years of pondering this question, I have to say that the answer is both “No” and (rather reluctantly) “Yes.” I say “No,” naturally, because race and wealth can NEVER be a factor when evaluating the life or human and societal importance of anyone! If that were the case, then God help us all.

On the other hand, I say “Yes” reluctantly simply because the consequences for Jamaica and its citizens is almost bound to differ in the case of a murdered tourist on the one hand, and a murdered poor black person on the other. The murder of a tourist has the potential of disrupting the economic landscape of our country and thereby disrupting the lives of large numbers of people. The murder of a poor black Jamaican will likely do no more than make headlines and, probably, radio call-in program discussion before it is promptly forgotten.

What is the relevance of this trend of thought for this thread? Well, it’s simple. Thanks to Usain Bolt and his dancing the “Gully Creeper” on the biggest stage of all, the Olympic Games in Beijing, this dude David Alexander Smith is no longer a “no-name.” He, thanks to Bolt, stands in that threshold of being a celebrity in Jamaica. Heaven help our (Jamaica’s) reputation if the elements of the media abroad make the connection between that dance and the murdered creator.

[Hortical]

This was just another gang hit on someone from the Black Roses criminal organization. Him mussi cross another criminal enterprise and dem tek revenge. Couple years ago Willie Haggart was killed because he crossed Colombian drug traffickers.

[Me]

Ice always getting into problems and trying to bad up people. i could never understand him and Bogle. Them always mix up in badness, yet any club or party them in the middle of the video light like a celebrity.

For the next few weeks we will hear a dominance of RIP Ice songs in dancehall.