By RASHAD ROLLE
Tribune Staff Reporter
rrolle@tribunemedia.net
TWO weekend homicides have brought the murder total for the year to 121, just two murders shy of last year’s tally.
With these latest killings, murders have increased 29 per cent compared to the same period last year. As of October 20, 2014 the country had recorded 94 homicides.
The country is in striking distance of setting a new record for the number of murders in a single year. The current record was in 2011 with 127 homicides.
The latest killings took place on Saturday.
According to police, the first incident happened around 7.30pm when a man, walking out of a bar located on Kemp road, was shot by another man carrying a handgun. The suspect then fled on foot.
In the second incident, shortly after 9pm, the victim was at Sunshine Park when he got into an altercation with two men, resulting in him being shot. The victim was taken to hospital where he died of his injures.
The Tribune understands that the victims in the separate shootings were Jamal Moxey, who was shot in Kemp Road, and 35-year-old Alvaido Derlius.
Seven people have been murdered so far this month, according to The Tribune’s records. Last October 11 killings took place, according to police statistics.
The problem with serious crime has confounded the governing Progressive Liberal Party since it was elected in 2012 after erecting controversial billboards that described high murders under the former Ingraham administration.
While in opposition, the PLP routinely called for then Minister of National Security Tommy Turnquest to resign due to escalating crime.
Last month, National Security Minister Dr Bernard Nottage suggested that the government does not get enough credit on days when murders do not occur.
And he, in a move that drew the ire of some members of the legal profession, also blamed the courts for not enforcing laws when discussing the country’s violent crime problem.
“What is interesting is that last week there was a period where we didn’t have any murders, and I didn’t hear anybody say, ‘Oh, you all are doing a good job; we don’t have any murders,” Dr Nottage told the House of Assembly in September.
He added: “We had a Bill, an Act, which had a mandatory sentence for possession of an illegal gun for four years. The judiciary came back and said that was unconstitutional. There are people, when someone came before them in the court for carrying an illegal gun and ammunition; it was somebody’s good son. They couldn’t’ bring themselves to pass the sentence on the books, the judge or magistrate. Then they made us come back here and take it off the books because they say the mandatory sentence was unconstitutional. Then when these people go before the courts with illegal guns, either possession or using them in robbery or some shooting, they get a tap on the wrist.”
Comments
John 8 years, 6 months ago
When reality sets in, this country will, without doubt, set a new murder record this year. The saddest of this reality is that when you tear the last page for December, 2015, off the calendar, that will not be an end to the gruesome, out-of-control murder story. No one has a magic button to press to end the killings on December 31, and whatever the number of murders are on December 31, the trend will spill into January 2016. And if nothing is done and if nothing is done swiftly, the situation will get worse. Killers are growing bolder, becoming almost fearless and the frequency of murder is increasing at an increasing rate.. The fact is that measures taken to curb killings are not working as the records reflect.
ohdrap4 8 years, 6 months ago
look, there were no murders on friday. did the tribune report it? nooooo, they only report when there are mureders and that is unethical journalism!!!!
DonAnthony 8 years, 6 months ago
Are you sure your name is not really Bernard Nottage?
TruePeople 8 years, 6 months ago
I think he's being sarcastic
Honestman 8 years, 6 months ago
Why should a local newspaper have to report that there were no murders on any given day? That would not be news in any civilized country. It is just that in The Bahamas a zero kill rate in any 24 hour period is becoming almost newsworthy!!! Welcome to the jungle.
TruePeople 8 years, 6 months ago
Bernie want people to congratulate him for doing nothing. If he ein want to get blamed for crime when it goes down, why he should be praised for peace when it comes up?
Cobalt 8 years, 6 months ago
Worth saying again......
Murder is NOT the government's fault. Murder is a social issue that is a direct result of dysfunctional homes. For the better part of two decades, parents have not raised their children with the proper morals and values needed to establish a functional society. As a result, these "dysfunctional" children have now materialized into "dysfunctional" adults.
Bahamians need to understand that the government is not responsible for babysitting their children..... nor teaching them proper values. That's the job of the parents!! The problem is.... we have too many irresponsible parents living in our country. They give birth to children that they can't afford. They attempt to raise children without teaching them the ways of The Lord. And many of them don't possess the skills that are in high demand in this age.
The government and police can only respond to murders!! If I pick up a gun or a knife and turn it on my fellow brother, then that's MY fault.... not the government. Government personnel can only act in retrospect to murder in accordance with the law.
Put the blame of murder where it belongs!!! The blame rest with the people of the Bahamas!! The very same everyday citizens we see on a daily basis engaging in a vulgar type lifestyle void of any dignity or decency. This post by no means includes every situation envolving the 121 plus murders. But it certainly point a finger in the right direction.
John 8 years, 6 months ago
Now we are waiting to hear your solutions or do you have any.
Cobalt 8 years, 6 months ago
Solutions??? Why are you under the pretense that I am obligated to render any solutions???
The good Lord has given me the responsibility of my wife and our children.... that's it. They are the only people that I am responsible for or obligated to render any kind of resolve for.
This is precisely what I was attempting to convey in my previous post. I really don't understand why people like you are under the broad assumption that people such as myself or the government are responsible for rendering any kind of solution to this animalistic behavior we are seeing on our streets. Bahamian people need to find their own solutions and rid themselves of the idea that life or the government owes them something. The only solution that I have for tapering a wild animal is to place them in a cage away from civilized people. And that's exactly what these murderes are.... "wild animals" with no regard for human life. They are completely void of the components that distinguishes human being from a beast.
The sad truth is that this generation is a lost cause. All parents and citizens can do at this point is learn from our mistakes and take this as a lesson. Let this be a lesson to all that the carnage that we are seeing on our streets today is what occurs when we fail as parents and when we make bad choices in life. Bahamians need to understand that poor choices come with serious consequences. Poor choices are not just something you can brush off or treat flippantly. They result in what we are seeing today. All we can do at this point is start over with the next generation that is to come. Start instilling Christian values in our little ones today. They are our future.
TruePeople 8 years, 6 months ago
That's it jhed. Youse why crime is issue. Cus you is only care bout ya bloods dem. That's how the street set up. To each dem own hustle. We ein obligated to eachother. We are not our borthers keepers. We only get fi we own thing and shub down anyone who get in the way right?
My bey say is only his family he responsible for. Man could could get robb or dead on he door step, but if it ein he famz dem, he ein response.
So ya brudda, baddness round here ein the gov't fault. is you fault sir, is you
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