MARCH TOWN, Hanover – Elder at the March Town Seventh-day Adventist Church, Ricardo Samuels, has called for the names of the six family members who were killed in Campbellton last October to be cleared of any wrongdoing, stressing that they were not murdered because of any involvement in criminal activities.

The elder made the call on the weekend, as he delivered a tribute during an emotional memorial service at the church for five of the six family members who were slain just over three months ago in the deep rural community.

“These individuals were known to me personally and I can pledge…I can say that these people were decent people. And if that is not bad enough, the family members are saying one of the things that is giving them lots of pain is the fact that individuals who have lived such dignified lives, people are saying all across the world that they were criminals and were involved in illegal stuff. I stand here today firm in my saying that this statement must be withdrawn. These people were decent, law-abiding citizens of Jamaica,” the churchman remarked.

The three months which have elapsed since the slaughter of the six, clearly were not enough to ease the hurt of their loved ones, as many mourners who came out to pay their last respects to Lynette Bloomfield, 62, Mark Bloomfield, 40, Kerian Bloomfield, 36, and her two children Aliah Mahabee, 17, and Davion Mahabee, 15, wept openly.

The other victim, Brian Mangaroo, 29, will be buried at a later date.

The Hanover police reported that on October 8, last year, they were summoned to the Campbellton section of March Town community about 11:30 pm after residents reported that they heard a barrage of gunshots.

Upon their arrival in the community, the police team spotted a house engulfed in flames and the fire brigade was called.

Firefighters, after carrying out cooling-down activities, found the charred remains of the six family members in the rubble. Four other occupants of the house who were severely burnt were taken to the Noel Holmes Public General Hospital where they were admitted.

The gun attack was widely condemned by a wide cross- section of the society.

And a day after the incident, Commissioner of Police Dr Carl Williams and National Security Minister Peter Bunting were among a number of officials who visited the usually peaceful community in the wake of the bloodbath.

During the visit Bunting told community members that association with criminal elements can result in exposure to harm.

“I want to use this opportunity to appeal to residents of Hanover and indeed all Jamaica, whenever you associate with criminals, whether violence producers or scammers, those who have illegal guns, you put your entire family at risk,” Bunting stated then.

He added: “When we do the analysis of victims of gun murder, the vast majority of them are either persons involved in criminal activity or the close family or associates of those involved in criminal activity. So I would appeal to the ladies, stay away from these gangsters, they come to visit, they will put the rest of your family at risk. As you have seen when they get into this reprisal and counter-reprisal violence, they are indiscriminate. They don’t care who is the target from who is collateral damage.”

At Sunday’s memorial service, Hanover Western MP, Ian Hayles, who described the attack as one of the “worst in the modern history of Hanover,” lauded the police for providing support for the community in the aftermath of the massacre.

“…What sticks out for me today is that what stand between us and the criminals, the murderers and everybody else, are the police. And I see how the police have been working with this family, they have increased their approach in Hanover over the past couple of months, and I want to big up the police for working with this family and for working much harder with the community,” said Hayles.

He also reiterated his call for the resumption of hanging.

“I hope, I hope whenever the next Parliament resumes that we can finally move ourselves away and start dealing with murderers the way we ought to be dealing with them in this country,” stressed Hayles, who expressed condolences to the bereaved family on behalf of Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller.

Dr Horace Chang, who represented Opposition Leader, Andrew Holness, called for leaders to tackle the issue of materialism taking precedence over humanity.

“All of us as leaders will have to find a way to begin to address this deep cancer that has invaded our society where materialism overcomes our care and concern for others. As a society, working with each other; police, church, school and family, to ensure that those who are growing up will never again be inclined to repeat this kind of event,” Dr Chang argued.