BY FABIAN LEDGISTER, Staff Reporter
A NUMBER Of children are being recruited and used to commit murders and other serious crimes, police investigations have discovered.
The police said seasoned criminals are now turning to pre teens and teens, whom they supply with firearms and money to carry out thier criminal deeds.
The yearly murders committed by youths aged 12 - 15 in 2003, tripled last year. In 2003 there were five recorded cases of murder committed by youths, with 15 being recorded in 2004. Though figures are not readily available, the number is expected to be significant for this year.
"These youngsters are the preferred shooters for senior men, as their fingerprints are not on file, and because the police don't recognise them as criminals," explained Deputy Superintendent Derrick Knight, crime chief for the Kingston Western Division, who is lamenting that recently most of the wanted men in his area are not men at all.
Just last week, a Smith and Wesson firearm was recovered from a 16-year-old by police in that division. That same boy is a suspect in a triple murder in Admiral Town on November 17. Police are also seeking another suspect in that murder, who is merely 13.
Another 13-year-old, Nicholas Bakers, otherwise called 'Bin Laden', was murdered by unknown assailants earlier this year, after he reportedly shot and killed Shana-Kay Brown, 14, in the head, at her home off Waltham Park Road, St. Andrew. The incident occurred at 9:55 a.m. on July 5, and, in an act of 'jungle justice', police saidy the men who gave Bakers the gun, killed him that very night.
GUN BAGS
Police later discovered that Bakers was a known 'Gun Bag' - the term used for children who transport guns in their school bags. Instead of keeping the gun though, the child used it to 'show off', and eventually killed Brown.
"These young kids wearing uniform are used to transport guns and ammunition to and from murders ... after the gunman kills, he'll drop the weapon in the kids' school backpacks, so even if they are caught, the gun disappears!" said DSP Knight.
Last Thursday, three teens were held by police after they were found in possession of 12 gauge and .22 cartridges. The shotgun ammunition was found in possession of a 13-year-old girl and a 17-year-old boy. Another boy, also 14, had the .22 cartridges in his possession.
Ricardo 'Papa' Walters, 17, was also arrested for a triple murder at Newton Square in Franklyn Town, on August 17 this year. In that incident gunmen forced open a door killing Ingrid White, 19, Marvin Jacobs, 31, and their intended target, Andre Moncrief, 16, who was wanted for murders in the area.
The police currently have an 11-year-old boy in custody on suspicion of murder. The pre-teen is a suspect for murders committed on Barnes Avenue, some weeks prior.
Police believe the root of the problem lies in the family structure at home, as both parents are usually out "hustling", while the children are left under the guidance of area criminals.
The Association of Principal and Vice Principals, however, blames the Government, which they say refuse to institute a 'national code of conduct' for students. "This code would hold parents responsible for ensuring their kids are at school, and would give police the authority to get them to school ... we cannot even legally search the kids without this code in place," said the association's president, Alphansus Davis.
Davis maintains that without stricter laws to govern the guidance
of the nation's children, the negative trend of young criminals will only worsen.
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