Former Prime Minister PJ Patterson says last week’s brutal murder of veteran journalist Barbara Gayle is a “wake-up call” for Jamaica, noting that it underscores the urgent need for the nation to reexamine its values and “prioritise those that are life-sustaining”.

Gayle’s body was found at her Caymanas Country Club Estate home in St Catherine last Tuesday. She had been stabbed multiple times and had been bludgeoned. A man who was the main suspect in the killing was held two days later.

READ: Police collar main suspect in Barbara Gayle murder

In a release on Monday, Patterson remembered Gayle as “gentle, modest and conscientious” and noted that “as a legal scribe, she understood the essence of the evidence and complex points of law that eventually made her a reporter of the highest order.”

Journalist Barbara Gayle at a recent Press Association of Jamaica (PAJ) Veteran’s Luncheon held at the Jamaica Pegasus hotel in St Andrew.

“Her acumen for comprehensive legal reports was such that practitioners, including myself, could rely on the integrity and completeness of a Barbara Gayle story in the most intriguing and complicated trials,” the former prime minister said.

He added that as the country is engulfed in condemning the heinous crime of Gayle’s murder, “it also marks a time for sober reflection how to end such despicable crimes.”

He called for a “decisive change in the culture”, arguing that “anything less will be like recurring decimals which perpetuate our own individual vulnerability to criminal extinction.”

“Anger and greed must give way to caring and tolerance at every level,” Patterson said, adding “The solution to the national dilemma has to begin with acknowledging the sacredness of life – the belief that one’s own life is of intrinsic value. That necessitates valuing and treating others with respect.”

Patterson suggested that overemphasis on materialism is leading Jamaicans to a neglect of their social and moral fabric.

“It is past time for Jamaica to reclaim its values and promote the attitudinal changes which emphasize the importance of respect for human life, empathy, civility and kindness,” Patterson said, noting that “The brutal murder of Barbara Gayle is a wake-up call for Jamaica to take action and promote a culture of love, compassion, and shared humanity.”