Murder, Homelessness and fallouts ..................................

This Post is subject to periodical Update(s)

Sad news again has come this time to a group under the msm umbrella who have been seriously overlooked by the advocacy structures mainly JFLAG, where we now have two murders.

Condolences to their friends and family (if they really care) but this raises serious concerns about MSM homelessness in Jamaica.
Five days ago the post immediately preceding this entry spoke to msm homelessness and a confirmed murder of a relatively new comer that population in the New Kingston area by Dumfries Road with other incidents no one else bothered to mention at a another site where substance abusers and commercial sex workers gather while a buggery matter was of concern in the same vicinity but sometime between last evening June 12th to June 13th on the opposite side of New Kingston again where another open area where substance abusers and msms also hang out was the scene of a brutal murder of two members of the population which some sensationalism from members of the public as news spread and both major television stations carried the story.

here is the TVJ version or HERE on their website

The men were found partially dressed and having female underwear allegedly, also stones with what appeared to be skin and blood tracings on them. One eyewitness suggested that some serious struggle took place based on the blood and scattered clothing with some personal effects on the scene. The police surmise jealousy as a motive for the killing as they were said to be attacked by their assailants. I do not buy that story about jealousy based on information garnered from other members of the population and the fact that a third man who was on the scene also escaped the alleged attack at the time but as we know the truth will come out sooner or later in matters such as this. The typical belief for many Jamaicans over the decades is that murdered gay men are usually killed due to jealousy hence the motive presented by the cops I fear.

here is the CVM nightly news version, the midday news version was not so detailed

 In the distance you can make out the usually contracted undertakers for crime scenes preparing the bodies for removal from the site as a crowd had gathered curiously to see the men apparently.

One of the last entries made by one of the friends close to one of the deceased via his Facebook account who had been going through issues with other family members and community members where he commented that he was going through so much pain, just a hint of the troubles the guys go through, I needn't remind you my readers my position on the lack of proper interventions by the respective LGBT organizations and groups in regards to homelessness, the previous post should bring to bear a reminder and a timeline as to how we got here. We should not have had to wait until we have two gruesome murders to now hear talk by some that homelessness needs to be looked at while apologists continue to say that JFLAG does not have the resources to deal with those issues yet we spending on other lesser activities even in the face of a growing population of displaced LGBT persons predominantly young MSM.

also see an updated post on GLBTQ Jamaica on Wordpress: 

JFLAG’s needs to accept some responsibility for the Trafalgar Murders ….. homelessness not properly addressed

Coincidentally Television Jamaica, TVJ carried a story on Patricia House (a substance abuse rehab centre next door to JASL) that offered residential services for persons yet with all the powerful LGBT agencies and related NGOs we have no such facility for our MSM in particular and very little psycho social support if even by referrals. It was also disturbing to know that many of the JFLAG staff or operatives did not even know who the persons were though there are popular on the party social scenes and elsewhere, this strongly confirms how out of touch and disinterested the structure is in addressing homelessness and displacement and may just plan to use this as another springboard to put themselves forward as our defenders, typical, more on that below.

Meanwhile last evening as well we also lost a favourite on the social scene who was almost decapitated in the Havendale area, affectionately known a 'ronica his body was found after eight in the evening when his friend returned from shopping for a gas cylinder, the other guest who was in the deceased company was missing from the scene. There is a photo of the body that I will not post here. As the news made the rounds however many were shocked as they could not believe and concerns about cruising were brought to attention but unfortunately all that was overshadowed by the murder of the aforementioned men from as early as the midday news on both major television stations and major newspapers online editions. My sources confirmed pretty early as they were on the scene as the news broke and they too assisted the police in identifying the bodies.

here is the Gleaner's take -

also according to the Gleaner THE POLICE last night were still searching for leads into the death of two men whose bodies were found in an open lot along Trafalgar Road, St Andrew, yesterday morning.

"We are yet to know the identities of the men, the cause of death, or what really happened. We are conducting an investigation into the incident as we speak," a police source told The Gleaner.
According to the police, just after 8 a.m. yesterday, they received reports that two bodies were in bushes in an open lot near the stop light by Lady Musgrave and Trafalgar roads.

On arrival on the scene, they discovered the bodies at different locations in the lot, lying in a pool of blood.
The police said one of the bodies was lying face down with a gaping wound to the forehead, while the other was face up with a wound to the left eye. The police said they appeared to be chopped and stoned to death.

"It appears that people have been living in this lot because we found bedding, tarpaulins, doors, cardboard and cooking utensils. This is an area known to be frequented by drug addicts and prostitutes," one police officer said.

The population of homeless and displaced men for the most part has been an issue ever since the closure of the Safe House Pilot project as formed under Jamaica AIDS Support for Life with its offshoot Jamaica Forum for Lesbians Allsexuals and Gays, JFLAG and the splintering on the men on the streets the very place the program was to have kept the men off the streets in 2010, the rowdy behaviour of the men was a concern but was used as an excuse by the then board of JASL to close end the program but the casualty was the Executive Director at the time who sanctioned and instituted the initiative as she was not a "yes man" or lady in this case to a board and its former powerful chairman who also happened to wear several hats in LGBT and HIV advocacy and activism which they still wear. Such is the messy set up of the advocacy structures that well needed interventions that do not meet the approval of or deemed unimportant in the scheme of things by personalities and bodies are scrapped despite their urgent relevance and the pilot project was not the only one. Without going into too much of the mess the sad part about all this death and uncaring is that all this could have been avoided if some sort of residential or semi residential program was continued and tweaked with the problem plagued Safe House Pilot that was stopped in 2010. The men have been languishing on the city streets since with new additions as more msms are marginalized and ostracized by family members.

It would be interesting to hear officially what the representative groups (and their apologists) are going to say and what measures will be taken to finally address the roaming homeless msm populations barring press releases as per usual, the populations which not only exist in Kingston but also St Catherine, St James and St Ann in growing numbers as well. Pardon my cynicism in this matter readers but some of us have come to understand the convenience at which public though tragic incidents like this are used as spring boards for certain agencies to come with pomp and ceremony to present themselves in elaborate public relation campaigns as if they care and are doing this yeoman service for what is expected to be a gullible lgbt community and we all sure cheer from the gallery and be grateful. We are reminded ever so often that there are no resources or requisite funding available to do these important programs and interventions but we see other activities that just on the face of it would cost money as well done post-haste in some instances.

When is the contemptuous treatment of our MARPS, oops I forgot only the experts use such acronyms, I mean most at risk populations going to stop? 

The perception by some persons that the men and the popular 'ronica also get themselves in trouble by supposedly inducing heterosexual men or more appropriately down low men (heaviots) into sexual acts that lead to violence from the same persons maybe true in certain respects but there are other issues related to identity, self acceptance, gay for pay and effemophobia that are too long to be included in this post at this time but there are other references via this and other blogs, certainly the loss of these two persons has brought into sharp focus the ever expanding issues surrounding men who have sex with men, let us hope we use the time and opportunity wisely and not lapse into complacency once again as we are used to the nine day wonder phenomenon.

Here is an audio commentary on the timeline leading to the early homelessness issues after the controversial closure of the Safe House Pilot Project and the resignation of the then Executive Director of Jamaica AIDS Support for Life, JASL leading to the re-displacement and subsequent homelessness if you will of the msm hence their scattering leading to the present situation over the past two years:

 Homeless MSMs Saga Timeline 28.08.11 

JFLAG has since put out the expected press release as it always does which included: "It is unconfirmed but we understand that there is a list circulating with names of persons who are being targeted. We encourage persons to avoid certain areas, events, travelling by public transport and generally being in spaces where we feel unsafe. Travel in groups if you can. Constantly be aware of your surroundings and report any and all violations you witness or experience to the police.

Should you have any questions or concerns please do not hesitate to contact us at 875-2328 or 376-2021 ."

Ok so there is this threat but how are the homeless men themselves be told this when it is they who are the real victims here, is the J finally going to go out there as they ought to have been doing all these years after sanctioning the closure of the previous homeless project and leaving the men to fend for themselves and engage the populations finally? I think not. It is just sad that this is where we are in as far as real work in the trenches are concerned. A fundamental question comes to mind: If The J knew of murders within the last three months why did it have to take this last well covered incident by the press for them to finally cough up a press release?

Frankly JFLAG and its parent Jamaica AIDS Support for Life are culpable in some respects and have blood on their hands, they have failed to properly serve the least amongst us, why didn't they engage the homeless groups as they ought to? They must accept some of the responsibility in all this and to now put out another press release from conveyor belt is not enough and trying to cover their aloofness.

UPDATE (June 15)

JFLAG along with Dr. Leachim Semaj (anti gay psychologist) and Orville Taylor public commentator appeared in the Radio Jamaica, RJR radio program "Beyond the Headlines" hosted by Dionne Jackson Miller but just by listening it was clear the J is using this to present themselves as credible while clearly out of touch with the homeless and displaced populations, this is indeed sad while Dr Semaj as per usual hinted to murders of gay men being caused by jealousy, he usually uses his appearances regarding this subject matter to present this point.

Suspect Held: aired on TVJ June 14th

Now comes news of an intersexed victim in Old Harbour: 

The St Catherine South police are searching for the killer(s) of a hermaphrodite, whose body was found in bushes in Old Harbour Bay yesterday.

Dead is Shannel Campbell, a 20-year-old labourer of Old Harbour Bay.
Reports from the Old Harbour Bay police are that about 10 a.m., the decomposing body of Campbell was found in bushes near an area known as Terminal. Campbell was last seen in the company of a male.

An on-the-spot post-mortem revealed that Campbell had male and female sex organs and that death was caused by a blow with a blunt object.
"It basically means that he got a blow to the head and died as a result," an investigator said
Police had not identified any suspects or established a motive for the killing.


Meanwhile Mark Sangumetti of a Waltham Park address in Kingston has been charged with the double killing of the homeless men. 

He was charged yesterday June 24 for two counts of murder. 
The bodies of 19-year-old Winston Ramsey also known as ‘Blacks’ and 20-year-old Jermaine Thompson also called ‘Avatar’ were found in bushes at the stoplight at the corner of Lady Musgrave and Trafalgar roads on June 13. 

The police had reported that several bloodied stones were found close to the bodies which also had chop wounds. 

 .... also of note the somewhat hypocritical concerns in a Gleaner letter entitled Gays Being Attacked Left, Right And Centre by a former board member of one of the organizations responsible for the closure of the previous Safe House pilot project, why aren't the organizations including JFLAG not addressing MSM homelessness  and are they waiting for deaths and abuse to stand on ceremony with these atrocities? Questions to ponder. 

Here is an audio summary after doing some leg work to confirm the story:

   (June 25, 2012 Update)

Here was the original murder of another homeless MSM as reported in the Star News on May 25 2012 this was not reported anywhere else as far as I have checked and JFLAG was silent on this one as well. 

Mutilated body found

The mutilated body of an unidentified man rumoured to be a homosexual was discovered on Dumfries Road in New Kingston about 8 a.m. yesterday by passers-by on their way to work.

News of the find started to spread across New Kingston like wildfire and THE WEEKEND STAR was informed by a source that scores of people came to the scene trying to get a glimpse of the body which was said to be sporting a gold chain.

According to reports, the scantily dressed body was discovered lying face down in a section of a gully which runs under the roadway and the police were notified.

THE WEEKEND STAR arrived as the body was being removed. Workman on a nearby worksite suggested that the man was a homosexual but could not say why he was killed.

A staff member from an establishment on Dumfries Road told THE WEEKEND STAR that she was almost late for work because of the chaos from the scene.

She said, "From yuh look at di man you can tell he was a homosexual ... you want see how him dress up. Mi tired fi come a work and hear say body find bout di place ... dem must take Dumfries Road for a dump."

When THE WEEKEND STAR contacted the New Kingston Police Post, the station commander confirmed that an unidentified body was found.

He also said, "The body could have been placed there overnight, however, the discovery was made this morning. The body had multiple chops, no motive has since been established and investigation into the matter continues."

Peace and tolerance

H

click the "Homeless MSM in Jamaica" tab immediately below for previous entries on the subject