SANTA CRUZ, St Elizabeth – Police in St Elizabeth are investigating two killings on Sunday morning and Monday night which have pushed the murder tally for the parish to 13, compared to 22 for the similar period last year.

Those killed have been identified as 26 year-old higgler Nordon Reeves, otherwise known as ‘Peta Cat’ of Lottery, St James and Anthony Williams, about 47 years old from the Maggotty area of St Elizabeth.

In the first incident at about 9:00 am on Sunday at Knoxwood close to Lacovia, Reeves succumbed to machete and stab wounds after getting involved in a violent conflict with three other men, one of whom (name withheld by police) has been admitted to hospital in a serious condition, nursing chop wounds.

Police say the deadly fight was the result of a long-standing dispute over ganja and a cellular phone.

In the second incident at about 11:00 pm Monday night, residents of White Hill in the Maggotty area heard Williams crying out for help. They found him shortly after, stabbed to death close to his home. Police were yet to determine a motive for Williams’ slaying.

The two incidents have led to a renewed call by the police chief in St Elizabeth, Superintendent Maurice Robinson, for people to seek mediation and non-violent solutions rather than to resort to violence when in dispute with others.

“It really is tragic that people continue to kill and maim each other over problems that can easily be resolved,” said Robinson. “We are saying if you have a dispute with others, find someone who everyone respects, to help you solve the problem. And of course there is always the police and the court system, but violence will only make the situation much worse for everyone,” he said.

Robinson was also critical of those – sometimes “relatives and friends” of the disputing parties – who stand by and watch as quarrels descend into violence without making an attempt to prevent it.

There were 36 murders in St Elizabeth for all of last year.