FIVE people were yesterday shot dead in Kingston and St Catherine, while the bodies of two persons were found with gunshot wounds in St Ann and Clarendon, pushing the murder toll for the year to 627.

The police gave the names of those killed yesterday as:

* Javain Cunningham, also known as “Wingy”, 19;

* Paul Wilson, alias “Sleepy”, 26, a vendor of Gregory Park;

* Ricardo Brown of Swallow Road, Kingston;

* Delroy Lewis, also known as “Screechy Deli”, 38, of Franklyn Town; and

* Lance Richards, 21, of McKenzie District, St Ann.

The police also reported that the bodies of a Clarendon businessman, Hexan Kerr and an unidentified woman, were found with gunshot wounds in Clarendon and St Ann.

The police said Cunningham and Wilson were shot dead and a third man seriously injured and hospitalised, after gunshots were fired yesterday morning in an area known as “The Gulf” in Gregory Park, St Catherine. The third man, who has not yet been identified, was chopped and shot in the incident. The three men, the police reported, were in the area when they were attacked by a group of gunmen who opened fire, shooting all three. The South St Catherine police are investigating the matter. Police also suspect that Cunningham was armed when he was slain.

An officer at the crime scene told the Observer that one of the suspected killers had been in police custody for armed robbery but cops were forced to release him after the persons he was accused of robbing refused to give evidence.

“They said it was not him after he threatened them. Now you see what him come and do?” the officer said.

Persons who had gathered at the death scene commented that the failure of the men to return a gun was the cause of their demise.

“Look how long people tell dem fi gi back the man dem tings and you see wha it cause now?” one of the onlookers commented.

Other persons in the area said one of the men were killed because they refused to return a Taurus handgun that belonged to a known gunman in the community.

Wilson was taken to hospital where he died, while Cunningham died from a single gunshot to the forehead. His body, clad in a red vest and black jeans, and bare-footed lay grotesquely in the sun. His left fist was tightly clenched and a trail of dried blood painted the left side of his face and led to a pool that soaked into the parched earth.

Cunningham’s death has left a three-month-old baby girl, Ashanti, fatherless. Ashanti’s mother, 17 year-old Tashinea McKenzie cried uncontrollably yesterday. Cunningham’s mother, Greta Williams was also in a state of shock and wailed sorrowfully for her son.

At Ferry District, just off the Mandela Highway in St Andrew, the lifeless body of Delroy “Screechy Deli” Lewis laid face down, guzzling blood. Lewis, police said, had fled Franklyn Town and taken residence in the Ferry area where he joined a gang which the police claimed was causing problems in the area. He was slain as a result of an ongoing feud over a gun in the area and the Duhaney Park police, who are investigating the matter, said they were looking for two men known as “Tongue” and “Mickey George”, for questioning in relation to Lewis’ murder.

The gang members started warring among themselves over a new firearm which arrived in the area, the police said. Last Sunday night, Omar Pryce, 25, of Ferry, was shot several times in a yard said to be owned by Tongue. Pryce, said to be Tongue’s right-hand man, died yesterday morning as a result of his injuries. Lewis was killed shortly afterwards.

Lewis was shot twice in the face, and while his body lay on the dirt road, a group of pigs had to be chased away by cops on the scene after they began to move menacingly toward the body.

Meanwhile, in the Coburn Gardens area of Kingston, Ricardo Brown was shot eight times by unknown assailants as he walked along Broadleaf Road near to the intersection of Woodpecker Avenue. The police said armed assailants attacked Brown from behind a wall and fired several shots killing him on the spot. Police had no motive for Brown’s killing.

Lance Richards was stabbed during a dispute with another man in the Top Road District of Brown’s Town, St Ann yesterday morning. Richards was at a bike shop in the area when he got in an argument with another man, who stabbed him to death.

Police also reported that the body of Hexan Kerr, of Sandy Bay, Clarendon was found with gunshot wounds by a family member at about 6:00 am yesterday morning. Green was last seen alive with a female companion about 9:00 pm on Monday.

The body of the unidentified woman was found partially burnt and suffering from a gunshot wound in the Village district of St Ann, yesterday. According to the police, residents found the body in a pasture in the area. The body was removed for autopsy.