WESTMORELAND, Jamaica – The Westmoreland Police have charged a man with the murder of 39-year-old Kerry Ann Williams, the farmer whose body was found in a shallow grave in Mount Airy in the parish.

Courtney Cooper, 26, the boyfriend of the deceased who was listed as a person of interest in connection to the murder, surrendered to the Spanish Town police station on Thursday, and was subsequently transported to the Savanna-la-Mar police station.

On Saturday, Cooper reportedly confessed to killing Williams and was subsequently charged.

Police report that Williams and Cooper, who lived together, were at their Mount Airy district home in Negril, Westmoreland when an argument developed between the couple which escalated into a physical altercation.

It is alleged that, during the fight, Cooper choked Williams, used a knife to stab her in the chest and wrapped her dead body in a sheet inside the house. Sometime in the night that same day, Cooper allegedly took her body on a hill to the rear of the premises, dug a shallow grave and placed the body inside it.

On December 1, about 11:30pm, Williams’ daughter went to the Negril Police Station where she reported her mother missing.

On Friday, December 2, the police along with residents went in search of Williams and discovered her partially decomposed body in the hole at the rear of the premises. The body was transported to the Savanna-la-Mar Public General Hospital where the death was confirmed.

A court date is being finalised, the police say.