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Soldier says negligence may have caused Tivoli death
Says man was searched and detained in kitchen of Keith Avenue House
BY TANESHA MUNDLE Observer reporter mundlet@jamaicaobserver.com
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
var addthis_pub="jamaicaobserver";
A Jamaica Defence Force soldier today testified that one of five men killed during an operation by the security forces at Tivoli Gardens in January 2008, may have been the victim of negligence.
The soldier was testifying at the coroner's inquest into the deaths of the men at the Jamaica Conference Centre in downtown Kingston.
The soldier said three of the men had been killed by himself and other members of the security forces after they opened fire at them from the upper level of the apartment. However he said one of the men who was killed had already been searched and was placed under the security of two members of the security forces in a kitchen.
The soldier said after the shooting had ended on the upper level of the house, he heard shots downstairs and when he went down there he saw the man lying dead.
The soldier said in his opinion the man was killed either out of negligence or because the members of the security forces downstairs had come under threat.
The five men — 18-year-old Conrad Francis; Fitzroy Daley, 23; Oneil Palmer, 22; Ronaldo Mitchell, 20 — all of Tivoli Gardens and Kwesi Cunningham, 23, of Eltham Park — were killed after the security forces went into the community in search of members of the notorious Stone Crusher gang.
Police said the men were killed in a shootout but residents of the area have challenged the police version of events and claim the men were executed in cold blood.
Says man was searched and detained in kitchen of Keith Avenue House
BY TANESHA MUNDLE Observer reporter mundlet@jamaicaobserver.com
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
var addthis_pub="jamaicaobserver";
A Jamaica Defence Force soldier today testified that one of five men killed during an operation by the security forces at Tivoli Gardens in January 2008, may have been the victim of negligence.
The soldier was testifying at the coroner's inquest into the deaths of the men at the Jamaica Conference Centre in downtown Kingston.
The soldier said three of the men had been killed by himself and other members of the security forces after they opened fire at them from the upper level of the apartment. However he said one of the men who was killed had already been searched and was placed under the security of two members of the security forces in a kitchen.
The soldier said after the shooting had ended on the upper level of the house, he heard shots downstairs and when he went down there he saw the man lying dead.
The soldier said in his opinion the man was killed either out of negligence or because the members of the security forces downstairs had come under threat.
The five men — 18-year-old Conrad Francis; Fitzroy Daley, 23; Oneil Palmer, 22; Ronaldo Mitchell, 20 — all of Tivoli Gardens and Kwesi Cunningham, 23, of Eltham Park — were killed after the security forces went into the community in search of members of the notorious Stone Crusher gang.
Police said the men were killed in a shootout but residents of the area have challenged the police version of events and claim the men were executed in cold blood.
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