MANCHESTER, Jamaica — The Manchester police have confirmed the chopping death of a middle-aged woman in the parish this morning.

She has been identified as Carmita Dinnal, otherwise called ‘Gal Gal’, a worker from the Manchester Parish Council who was assigned to the Mandeville Market as a janitor.

Police report that she owns a number of puppies and accused a young man who lives at the house where she resides on Grove Lane, off Grove Road in Mandeville, of selling them.

It is believed that the young man attacked her in her sleep Friday morning and then buried her in a shallow grave beside the house.

The deceased, who was reportedly wearing her nightgown, had chop wounds to her head and neck. A mattress was reportedly thrown over the shallow grave and set on fire, but it did not burn the body.

Police say that they became aware of the crime when another man who lives at the house reported the incident at the Mandeville Police Station this morning, claiming he was forced to assist with burying the woman.

Superintendent of the Manchester Police Division Vendolyn Cameron-Powell said the investigations are progessing well, as the accused and alleged accomplice are in custody and the police is in possession of the weapon allegedly used in the attack.

The superintendent expects charges to be laid by Monday.

Cameron-Powell said that about four occupants, in total, lived at the “dilapidated” four-bedroom house, and that the owner is not yet known.

in the meantime, the Manchester police head has called on residents to report disputes.

“We are trying to have a safe parish,” Cameron-Powell said, noting that when altercations are reported, they are less likely to result in fatalities.

Alicia Sutherland