KINGSTON, Jamaica — Director of lobby group Hear The Children’s Cry (HTCC), Nigel Cooper, is urging the security forces to use every available resource to bring the perpetrators to justice, regarding a “horrendous trio of murders” involving children, within a 10-day period this month.

Cooper is also pressing for the Government to address and implement HTCC’s urgent proposal for a government-led 10-year “Disrupt Poor Parenting Project”. He sees this as a logical follow-up to the administration’s recently launched project to help empower the police and the army to disrupt gangs and violence across the country.

“Hear The Children’s Cry put forward our proposed 10-year Disrupt Poor Parenting Project four months ago, but we are still waiting to meet with the…Minister of Education, Dr Dana Morris Dixon, to discuss Government support and funding for this much-needed positive intervention in Jamaican life.

“When gunmen can allegedly deliberately target a two-year-old baby, this is unacceptable and cannot be tolerated by any well-thinking Jamaican,” said Cooper.

HTCC spokesperson, Priscilla Duhaney, also spoke to the issue.

“Within the span of a few days, we have seen and heard of reports of violent attacks and murder of our youth, ranging from toddlers to youths merely brushing the heels of adulthood. This reflects and mirrors how doomed our future seems. Our future generation is being severely attacked. We have little or no consideration for the vulnerable, for our dependents, for our children,” said Duhaney.

“Hear The Children’s Cry remains deeply passionate about what the future holds for our children,” she added.

Two-year-old Tajuan Jackson and Kimarley Powell, 25, were both killed in a drive-by shooting in Maverley, St Andrew on Monday, while 18-year-old Queen’s High School student Jada Pollard was killed during an early morning home invasion in Smokey Vale, St Andrew that same day.

A suspect is in custody in relation to Pollard’s killing while the police have named Courtney Ashley, otherwise called “Blood stain”, as a suspect in the Maverley double homicide.

HTCC also highlighted the murder of 15-year-old Duscane Elliott of Beverley Flats, Newland in Portmore, St Catherine. He was stabbed to death in his home during an altercation. A 14-year-old girl of Newland has since been arrested and charged with murder in connection with the incident.