MANDEVILLE, Manchester — Police say the 27-year-old member of the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) implicated in the murder of his girlfriend, 29-year-old Tanzanya Dunkley, in Three Chains near here on Friday, has confessed to the killing, claiming that a voice told him to carry out the gruesome act.

“They had an argument and the woman decided that she was going to leave [the relationship], and he grabbed her phone. She held on to him. He is saying that a voice told him to kill her. He took the knife and cut her throat,” a police source told the Jamaica Observer on Saturday.

The incident has reignited widespread debate about domestic violence. Since the murder, too, a video showing a man — believed to be the suspect — armed with what appears to be a knife asking police personnel to “shoot him and kill him” has gone viral on social media. The video was reportedly captured at Mandeville Police Station after Dunkley’s murder.

A senior police source said the suspect could be charged with murder today or early this week, as he has already been interviewed by detectives, at which point he confessed to the homicide.

Police said the suspect told Dunkley’s 12-year-old daughter to go to an upper floor of the house in Three Chains moments before the murder.

“The incident happened downstairs and he told her to go upstairs…” the police source said.

On Friday, neighbours told the Sunday Observer that about 3:00 pm they heard screams coming from the house and shortly after saw a man, covered in what appeared to be blood, running from the premises.

Manchester has been haunted by cases of domestic violence down the years. Due to the severity of crimes linked to it in recent years, police have said a special intervention centre for domestic violence is needed in the south-central parish.

In several of the reported cases of domestic violence children have also been left traumatised after witnessing a parent being killed.

Two months ago, taxi operator Kevon Lesley was found guilty of murder in relation to the barbaric killing of his spouse, Shadae Brown, in front of her 11-year-old son three years ago.

Lesley, otherwise called Nice, was convicted by a seven-member jury following a two-week trial in the Manchester Circuit Court. His sentencing has been delayed to May 7.

Investigators believed the couple, on March 10, 2023, had a dispute about 8:30 pm. A police report said the man then proceeded to use knives to stab Brown repeatedly before fleeing the scene.

Two children were reportedly locked inside the house with Brown’s body. After hours of trying to get out of the house to seek assistance, the 11-year-old alerted neighbours.

A bus owned by Brown’s relatives, which was given to the accused to drive, was found a short distance from the house with the keys inside and was reportedly used by neighbours to transport Brown to hospital, where she was pronounced dead.

Police cordon off the murder scene in Three Chains, Manchester, where air-conditioning technician Tanzanya Dunkley, 29, was killed on Friday. (Photo: Kasey Williams)

An undated photo of murder victim Tanzanya Dunkley.