OPPOSITION spokesperson on education and youth, Senator Kamina Johnson Smith, says she is shocked and saddened by the gruesome killing of two pairs of sisters over the last few days.

Johnson Smith was referring to the gruesome slaying of 18-year-old Vere Technical High School Student Janhell Howell and her 22-year-old sister Felecia Bryan in Clarendon on the weekend and that of Tashi and Deon Foster, aged 31 and 21 respectively, in Manchester on Tuesday.

The bodies of Howell and Bryan were found Sunday morning in bushes in Landlease Settlement, Hayes, in the parish, while those of the Foster sisters were found at their home in Comfort District in the parish by police who were summoned to the scene after explosions were heard in the area.

On Wednesday, Johnson Smith expressed deep sympathy for the grieving families.

“We can’t continue to murder the future of our country. Janhell Howell and Felecia Bryan from Hayes Clarendon were in the prime of their lives. They had much to contribute to their country, community and family; Janhell was doing well in sixth form at Vere Technical,” Johnson said in a release issued to the media.

Senator Johnson Smith said that she was incensed that just days later, the nation learnt of the tragic murders of the Foster sisters.

“It seems women and children are prime targets in the murder epidemic plaguing the country. Jamaica needs urgent action on more than one front as it is not a normal thing for us to continue to kill children and women for whatever motive. These senseless killings must be stopped and perpetrators must be brought to swift justice,” she urged.

She referred to a motion she moved in the Senate in “February 2013 asking for a Joint Select Committee to recommend amendments to the Offences against the Persons Act, the Sexual Offences Act, the Domestic Violence Act and The Child Care and Protection Act.”

“This was with a view to define, redefine or augment offences and punishments to be applied to the murder of pregnant women and other forms of violence against women and children. The Government has not re-started the Committee meetings since December of 2014, and this leads me to question whether the Government is serious about tackling violence against women and children on every front. We cannot tackle an abnormal situation with normal strategies. It is clear that the current normal is not working and our women and children are paying the price,” Johnson Smith said.

“Murder is a horrible crime. We must never start to accept it as a normal part of our landscape. When young people are murdered it is worse, and even worse still when young girls and women are killed. We must, as a people, say enough is enough. We must call for and quickly take action,” she added.