A St James Parish Court judge has ruled that Travis Tummings, a man charged with four murders, has a case to answer.

Trial judge Sasha-Marie Smith-Ashley believes that the evidence presented before the court is sufficient to warrant the matter being transferred to the High Court.

The judge subsequently transferred the case to the Home Circuit Court for mention on April 11 and remanded Tummings in police custody.

Tummings, 26, otherwise called Chi Chi, is on a triple murder rap in connection with the killings of seven-year-old Justin Perry, nine-year-old Nahcoliva Smith, and 26-year-old Tevin “Bancel” Hayle in Salt Spring, St James.

He is also charged with the murder of 47-year-old Anthony “Plait Up” Forbes in a separate incident.

In addition to the murder charges Tummings has been charged with two counts of shooting with intent, possession of a prohibited weapon, and using a firearm to commit a felony.

Police had reported that Forbes’ murder was committed around 1:10 am on October 27, 2023. According to the police, Tummings and his accomplices broke into Forbes’ house, opened gunfire at him, then escaped in the area.

Forbes was taken to the hospital where he was pronounced dead.

In relation to the salt Spring murders, police had reported that around 5:20 pm on November 6, 2023 a taxi operator was driving his 2006 grey motor car from Salt Spring, heading to Montego Bay, with Perry and Smith on board.

Hayle reportedly stopped the vehicle and asked to be driven to his house. As Hayle entered the car a man armed with a rifle immediately exited bushes on the right side of the road and opened gunfire at the vehicle, hitting Hayle and the two little boys in their heads and upper bodies.

The police had theorise that Hayle was the target of the attack. He had been urged to turn himself in as cops probed the October 26, 2023 shooting of a couple near the gate of Salt Spring Primary School.

The deaths of the two little boys had shaken many Jamaicans and at morning devotion the day after at Chetwood Memorial Primary and Infant School their principal, Garvin Atkinson expressed the pain being felt by the staff and students.

“It’s hard, it’s hard, it’s really hard, and we are not really handling it well. As for me, I am shaken up as the leader, and the entire staff — we are a close-knit school — is shaken up,” Atkinson told the Jamaica Observer.

In Justin’s grade two classroom, a picture of him hugged the wall over the space where he usually sat. His classmates were kept busy recording a video message to his mother, telling her how much they missed him. His sobbing teacher, who asked not to be named, was held in the comforting grip of another child’s mother.

The educator spoke of Justin’s humility and how he always tried his best.

“He would always say goodbye, and just like usual he came and said, ‘Goodbye, Miss.’ I can’t believe this would be the last thing I would say to him,” she said in tears.

Nahcoliva’s grade three teacher described him as helpful and a leader among his peers, both in terms of his height and his attitude. She said he would be missed.