Simone Collymore’s mother and father were brought to tears in the Home Circuit Court in Kingston on Tuesday as they recounted events leading up to her brutal murder on January 2, 2018.

The 32-year-old woman and 36-year-old taxi operator Winston Walters were shot dead on Stanley Terrace in Red Hills, St Andrew as they arrived at the gate of the apartment building where she lived with her husband, who was said to have been home at the time of the shooting.

Simone’s husband, Omar Collymore, and three other men
— Michael Adams, Dewayne Pink and Shaquile Edwards
— are currently on trial for the murders.

The defendants are each being tried for two counts of murder and one count of conspiracy.

Collymore is alleged to have plotted his wife’s murder.

On Tuesday, the slain woman’s mother told the court that on the day Simone was murdered, her father received a chilling phone call alerting him that his daughter had been harmed.

“January 2, 2018 at 4:30 pm, I was at home. I tried to call Simone several times between 4:00 pm and 5:00 pm and it went straight to voicemail. At around 5:00 pm my husband came home and I was preparing a meal for him. He went upstairs and then he said, ‘Come here quickly’. I heard him on the phone with somebody and I heard him say, ‘Yes, officer,’ and then he left. I called Omar and asked him to tell me what happened. He didn’t say anything,” the mother said then she broke down in tears and had to be given time to compose herself.

“I told him that Simone got shot and asked him what happened. After he wasn’t answering I said, ‘Omar, you mean to tell me that you tek my pickney out and got her killed?’ Up to today he hasn’t said anything to me. He wasn’t at the funeral. My husband and I planned the funeral; he took no part at all,” the mother said.

She told the court that after Simone’s killing she found copies of insurance policies for her daughter, Collymore, and their children in a safe in an office used by the couple. The value of Simone’s life insurance policy was $120 million, while Omar’s policy was worth more than $100 million, she told the court, explaining that she could not recall the exact figure.

She further told the jury and Judge Leighton Pusey that the couple worked together and that Collymore dealt with the finances and delivered goods while Simone purchased the goods.

Based on her knowledge, when Collymore got involved with her daughter he was a student advisor at a University in Florida where, she said, Simone was also working as a professor.

“I do not know who took out the insurance, whether it was Simone or Omar; Simone told me that life insurance was taken out. The relationship between both of them was very good when they got married. They purchased a house in Florida; in 2010 they lived in Florida while she was pregnant, they then came to live with me in Jamaica. But the relationship became strained,” she explained.

She said that at one point Simone and Collymore had to visit a counsellor because of problems they were having in the relationship. While the mother could not remember everything that was discussed she said one of the problems had to do with infidelity. She also said that apart from herself, her husband, Simone, and Collymore, another of her daughters and her husband were also present at the session with the counsellor.

“We were also discussing the reason why Omar said he was going to live to see the family crumble.”

The father of the slain woman also cried when he recalled receiving the phone call that Simone had been shot.

He said before the relationship between the family and Collymore became strained, he and Collymore shared a perfect father-and-son relationship. The father said that he and his wife went on a trip to the United States where he received a phone call from Simone’s sister which triggered friction in the relationship between himself and Collymore.

When he and his wife returned to Jamaica, that was when he said the visit to the counsellor took place. Like his wife, he was curious to know why Collymore allegedly said he was going to see the family crumble.

On the day Simone was murdered the father said he received a phone call from Collymore.

“I was on the phone with my property manager. After speaking to him I realised that I had two missed calls from Omar. I returned the calls immediately and he answered. He asked where I was and told me to come fast to where he was living. I said, ‘Brethren, I don’t know where you live,’ ” the father said, explaining to the court that by then, after their falling out, Collymore and Simone had moved out of the family home and were living on their own.

“He said something happened but he didn’t tell me what happened. Somebody [then] came on the phone and identified himself as a police officer. He informed me that Simone was shot,” the father said as tears began to run down his face, prompting him to wipe them with a handkerchief.

When he regained his composure, he said the police told him that his daughter “was shot and was on her way to hospital”.

“I immediately drove out to Kingston Public Hospital. When I arrived I was directed to Tranquillity Funeral Home. I was shown Simone’s body on a stretcher. I identified her body to the doctor,” the father told the court.

The murder trial, which began on Monday, will resume Thursday.