ST ELIZABETH, Jamaica – The murder of a teenaged girl allegedly by her former lover Friday morning led to a stand-off between angry residents and police, which was eventually broken late evening with police firing teargas canisters and shots in the air.

The tragedy and ensuing drama unfolded in the remote district of Content, located between Nain and Lititz in South East St Elizabeth.

Family members identified the deceased as 18-year-old Kimberly Simpson, a former student of the Victor Dixon High School in Mandeville, Manchester. She reportedly dropped out of school after becoming pregnant at age 15 for her alleged killer.

The police have since taken into custody the father of Simpson’s two-year-old son – the police have identified him as 30-year-old Rohan Thomas, a barber of a New England address in Central Manchester. Reports are that he was before the Courts on a carnal abuse charge as a result of having impregnated the murder victim.

At about 6:00 pm police used teargas and fired shots in the air to clear the large and angry crowd – some people armed with machetes, stones and sticks.

The crowd had gathered from mid morning, threatening to kill the alleged murderer.

Thomas was protected by local police, some of whom entered the house while others remained on the outside. Police reinforcement eventually arrived in two helicopters late Friday – bringing an eventual end to the stand-off.

Grandmother of the victim, Almeda Powell, told OBSERVER ONLINE that Thomas entered the yard at about 7:00 am Friday and an altercation developed between him and Simpson.

According to Powell, Thomas pulled the teenaged girl inside the house and used a machete to chop her. She was eventually taken to hospital by a motor vehicle from the Junction Police station but reportedly died en route.

A grieving Powell charged that the murder could have been prevented had police responded quickly to her frantic calls.

“Mi call dem four time and is only when the worse happen dem come,” the weeping woman said.

She charged that her granddaughter was murdered in front of her two-year-old son. She said she only realised Thomas had come to the house when she heard “the baby sey ‘daddy’”.

Powell said the baby was pushed outside the house following the murder.

As angry residents gathered, the alleged killer reportedly set the house on fire, with firefighters eventually putting out the blaze.

At one stage during the stand-off, which lasted some eight and a half hours, residents locked the gate to the yard, effectively blocking a police vehicle from leaving with the alleged killer.

Witnesses say stones were thrown at the police reinforcement shortly after their arrival by helicopter. A senior police source told OBSERVER ONLINE that the stone throwing may have triggered the decision to disperse the crowd with teargas and gunshots in the air.

Observer photographer Gregory Bennett who was monitoring the action from atop a nearby building reported that a “piece of concrete was chipped off” close to him apparently by a bullet.

There were no reports of any injuries as a result of the police action.