(Jamaica Observer) The Portmore police said yesterday that robbery was the motive for the slaying of a mother and daughter in Phoenix Park, St Catherine.
According to the police, 52-year-old shopkeeper Janett Moore and her 19-year-old daughter, Tajona Rhoden, were at their shop when two gunmen showed up and demanded money. One of the men was reportedly wearing a mask.
A woman, who was inside the shop at the time of the incident, gave the robbers $1,000 but they were apparently not satisfied. The police say the robbers proceeded inside the shop and took an undetermined sum of money.
The men reportedly escaped on foot, but while they were leaving the shop they opened fire hitting Moore and Rhoden. Two children who were inside the shop at the time of the robbery and the woman who had given them money were not hurt.
Yesterday, Operation Officer for South St Catherine Superintendent Layton Grey told the Jamaica Observer that the police had been on patrol in the Dunbeholden area when they heard explosions and visited the neighbouring community. The superintendent said when the police arrived at the scene, they saw two wounded women.
When the Observer visited Phoenix Park yesterday, the relatives of the deceased had already left the community.
“It is a quiet community; we never had that type of crime in the community. After the police went there, on the ground, nobody actually came out,” Grey said, adding that they had to call to residents for them to come outside.
The policeman made an appeal to the residents to remain calm and assist the police as they carry out their investigations.
He also urged the residents to be on the lookout for criminals from neighbouring communities.
