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Jamaican killed in Bermuda before his wedding reception
CMC
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
HAMILTON, Bermuda - A 26 year-old Jamaican man who died after being caught in a hail of bullets outside his apartment was a newlywed who planned to hold a big wedding reception for family and friends in Bermuda this summer, family members have disclosed.
James Lawes, known as Junior, was a barber who had been married for only four months to his 27 year-old hairdresser wife Greashena, who is being comforted by her family. The couple, who got married in Jamaica, met when they were co-workers at a beauty salon.
The daughter of well-known community activist Gina Spence-Farmer, Greashena recently opened her own salon.
Her youngest sister Mychel said she was "devastated" by the sudden loss of her husband.
"It is really heartbreaking," she said. "They were so much in love and were really happy. It was like puppy love, they were so into each other. He was very warm-hearted and respectful.
"They just got married in Jamaica in December and it's only four months now."
Spence-Farmer said: "Junior was a God-fearing, kind and caring man. We were blessed to have him in our family.
"We are praying for God's healing over our land and would like to thank Bermuda for the outpouring of love, encouragement and prayers we have received."
Lawes, who had been working in Bermuda since February 2008, was the father of a five-year-old son, Adijah, in Jamaica.
Mychel said the Spence-Farmer family are in close contact with Lawes' parents, Lauren Frasier and James Lawes, and his two sisters and three brothers in Jamaica.
Lawes was killed as he stood chatting to a group of men at the entrance to the apartment building by Place's Place bar in Dundonald Street, Hamilton late on Friday night. Two other men were also injured in the drive-by shooting. One of them, 26-year-old Jamaican Maurice Martin, also rented an apartment at the rear of the bar.
Police said a passenger on a motorcycle fired 11 shots at the men before fleeing from the scene. The rider of the motorcycle had earlier chased a man along nearby Court Street before he made good his escape.
Martin's condition and that of a third man shot, 49-year-old Bermudian Robin Stovell, was described as "stable" by a hospital spokeswoman.
Lawes is the sixth man to die in a firearms incident in the island since May 2009.
Detective Chief Inspector Nicholas Pedro, the man heading up the murder investigation, said: "On a Friday night this is a crowded and busy area. We know certain people will have seen this crime. We know they have a good description of the gunman and his accomplice, and I urge those people to come forward."
Asked whether police are treating the shooting as gang-related, he said: "There's obviously some rivalries going on but it's too early to say at this stage."
Despite the earlier pursuit of the man along Court Street, Pedro said police believe "one of more" of the three men shot were deliberately targeted.
Ivan Place, owner of Place's Place, said: "It is shocking. Some 30 years ago there was a shooting here, but nothing since."
Premier Dr Ewart Brown has extended his condolences to Lawes' family.
CMC
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
HAMILTON, Bermuda - A 26 year-old Jamaican man who died after being caught in a hail of bullets outside his apartment was a newlywed who planned to hold a big wedding reception for family and friends in Bermuda this summer, family members have disclosed.
James Lawes, known as Junior, was a barber who had been married for only four months to his 27 year-old hairdresser wife Greashena, who is being comforted by her family. The couple, who got married in Jamaica, met when they were co-workers at a beauty salon.
The daughter of well-known community activist Gina Spence-Farmer, Greashena recently opened her own salon.
Her youngest sister Mychel said she was "devastated" by the sudden loss of her husband.
"It is really heartbreaking," she said. "They were so much in love and were really happy. It was like puppy love, they were so into each other. He was very warm-hearted and respectful.
"They just got married in Jamaica in December and it's only four months now."
Spence-Farmer said: "Junior was a God-fearing, kind and caring man. We were blessed to have him in our family.
"We are praying for God's healing over our land and would like to thank Bermuda for the outpouring of love, encouragement and prayers we have received."
Lawes, who had been working in Bermuda since February 2008, was the father of a five-year-old son, Adijah, in Jamaica.
Mychel said the Spence-Farmer family are in close contact with Lawes' parents, Lauren Frasier and James Lawes, and his two sisters and three brothers in Jamaica.
Lawes was killed as he stood chatting to a group of men at the entrance to the apartment building by Place's Place bar in Dundonald Street, Hamilton late on Friday night. Two other men were also injured in the drive-by shooting. One of them, 26-year-old Jamaican Maurice Martin, also rented an apartment at the rear of the bar.
Police said a passenger on a motorcycle fired 11 shots at the men before fleeing from the scene. The rider of the motorcycle had earlier chased a man along nearby Court Street before he made good his escape.
Martin's condition and that of a third man shot, 49-year-old Bermudian Robin Stovell, was described as "stable" by a hospital spokeswoman.
Lawes is the sixth man to die in a firearms incident in the island since May 2009.
Detective Chief Inspector Nicholas Pedro, the man heading up the murder investigation, said: "On a Friday night this is a crowded and busy area. We know certain people will have seen this crime. We know they have a good description of the gunman and his accomplice, and I urge those people to come forward."
Asked whether police are treating the shooting as gang-related, he said: "There's obviously some rivalries going on but it's too early to say at this stage."
Despite the earlier pursuit of the man along Court Street, Pedro said police believe "one of more" of the three men shot were deliberately targeted.
Ivan Place, owner of Place's Place, said: "It is shocking. Some 30 years ago there was a shooting here, but nothing since."
Premier Dr Ewart Brown has extended his condolences to Lawes' family.