MAY PEN, Clarendon — Four people were rounded up from their houses and killed in Havannah Heights Phase Three in the wee hours of Sunday morning in what is thought to be a long-running lottery scamming scheme gone bad.

The attack took place about 12:10 am. Those killed have been identified as 33-year-old Tashana Whyte and her 25-year-old sister Sherona Whyte; Luke Newman, a 19-year-old chef; and Michael Salmon, a 25-year old construction worker. They are all from Havannah Heights, Phase Three in the Denbigh section of the parish.

According to the police report, lawmen were called in by residents who heard loud explosions in the area. The four were subsequently found with gunshot wounds to their heads and upper bodies. Both sisters and Newman were confirmed dead at the May Pen Hospital and Salmon died while undergoing treatment.

The police have indicated that a door was kicked open to gain entry to the victims’ houses. It is being theorised that the attack was carried out by several people as all three houses in the yard were ransacked. Two of those killed were found in the house to the back, which was not the house they lived in. This would indicate that the attackers took them from their house and grouped them all in the house to the back and executed them.  From all indications, the shooters escaped on foot and headed in the direction of Foga Road. 

Investigators theorise that a relative of the two females killed was the intended target of the attack. The long-running feud is also believed to be linked to the murder of Donovan Bryan along Jackson Street in the parish two months ago

This is now the third attack in recent times that has been carried out in the Havannah Heights area in which the women’s relative was the intended target. The first attack was in June 2020 and the second was a year later in June 2021.

The relative has been on the police’s radar for his involvement in lottery scamming activities in the area which fuelled a feud over the illicit scamming monies. This led to the initial attack, which has in turn led to a series of reprisals and counter attacks. Investigations are on-going.