Andrea Downer, Features Writer

Marie Morgan, daughter of the 71-year-old man who was slain by the police in Glengoffe in January, struggles to hold back tears as she speaks about her father. - photos by Ian Allen/Staff Photographer

She stared into the distance, her eyes focused on a now barren field, which she said was once her father's farm. A one-room house where he used to live is perched precariously on an incline, the small structure jostling for space with two other one-room structures and two fowl coops which have seen better days. Her father, Edward Morgan, a 71-year-old shopkeeper, was shot and killed by police on January 16 this year. Another man, 43-year-old Patrick Austin, was also killed by the lawmen in the same incident.

Residents of the quiet rural district of Glengoffe, incensed by what they felt was the senseless killing of two innocent men, staged a massive protest in the community for several hours on the night of the fatal shootings. The angry residents reportedly burnt a police vehicle and threatened the policemen who were at the scene.

When The Gleaner visited the community recently, there were very few reminders of the mayhem that took place that night. Life in the sleepy rural town appeared on the surface to be back to normal; however, a short distance from the town square, in the district of Mount Concord, two of Mr. Morgan's children still harboured disturbing memories of that night.

Struggling to fight back tears, his daughter, 39-year-old Marie Morgan, momentarily went back to the night of January 16, when her father was killed.

Father's business

The one-room structure which was home to Edward Morgan.

"As much as you see mi, mi no stop grieve," she stated, explaining that she has taken over her father's business since his death, in fulfilment of his wishes. She said her father operated a shop in the square where he sold produce from his farm as well as beverages. He was killed as he was closing his shop to go home shortly after 9:00 p.m. According to Marie, even the task of carrying out her father's wish has proven to be too much for her at times.

"Before he died, he told me that if anything should happen to him, I should take over the business, so I left my work as a domestic helper and I am now out there. Many times mi out there and it is as if I am seeing him lying dead on the ground again," she said, as her tears flowed freely.

"The spot on the shop where the shot lick up after it go through him head, everything. He died with a bag of coconut in his hand. For a (long) time, mi couldn't sell or use coconuts."

Marie explained that her father's death has affected the entire family, as he was the glue that held the fragile unit that included her ailing mother and her six siblings, together. She pointed to a small cane field beside the houses that was choked with weeds and an empty field in the distance, which she said he used to grow produce to stock his shop.

"The place not keeping up like how him used to keep it so is like everything just bring pain and anger. Is like mi a dream and can't wake up," she stated.

Fear

In the district of Berry Hill, St. Catherine, a few miles from Glengoffe, 45-year-old Constantine Austin,the brother of 43-year-old Patrick Austin, a former resident of Glengoffe who was also killed by the police the night Marie's father was killed, said he struggled to bury his brother without any financial assistance from the state. He also expressed fear for his own life, should he become too outspoken for justice for his brother's death.

"I want something to come out of it, but I am not interested in pursuing it further. I leave it to the human rights people and the lawyer. I don't want to be killed like my brother and dead leave my children them," he stated, revealing that some persons who saw what happened that night are afraid to talk to investigators as they also fear retribution.

The Gleaner was unable to determine why both men were killed. According to Marie, her father was shot after he begged the policemen to leave Patrick alone, after they accosted him and spoke to him about a ganja spliff he was smoking. She said her father was shot once in the face. According to Constantine, his brother was also shot in the face, because he witnessed Mr. Morgan's death.

"When I reach round there they told me that the policeman draw down pon him (Patrick) with the little spliff. After them shot the old man, he asked why them kill the old man and bawl down lightening pon dem, and start to walk down the road. And them (the police) say 'yuh no see the man a get way?' an run him down and shoot him," Constantine claimed.

He admitted that while he would not describe his brother as mad, sometimes he acted slightly 'off'. However, he said his brother was a hard worker and he used to cut lumber for a living and, as long as he worked and got paid, he did not trouble anyone. He denied claims made by the police that his brother attacked them with a machete, stating that the machete the police said belonged to his brother was taken from Mr. Morgan's shop, a claim which Marie, Mr. Morgan's daughter, supported.

While the relatives of the two slain men struggle to come to terms with their loss, the wheels of justice are slowly turning.

Incomplete files

Edward Morgan, 71 years old, was shot and killed by the police at his shop in Glengoffe, St. Catherine in January. - File

Acting Commissioner of Police, Granville Gauze, told The Gleaner that, while investigations into the killings are advanced, the files, which are to be forwarded to the office of the Director of Public Prosecution, are incomplete.

"Ballistics and other documents are to be added to the files," he said, explaining that ballistic and forensic evidence that were sent to the government laboratory to be analysed, had not been returned, a situation which he said is not unique.

"Every day there are shooting incidents and there is only one forensic laboratory that serves the entire Jamaica," he stated. "Sometimes it takes up to two to three years for evidence to be processed. The Bob Woolmer case was fast-tracked and should not be used as a benchmark for the pace at which murder investigations progress in Jamaica."

He said the Bureau of Special Investigations needs more resources and personnel to deal with the murder investigations that it handles. He told The Gleaner that a preliminary report that was requested by Police Commissioner Lucius Thomas was delivered by the deadline of January 18, two days after the shootings. However, attempts to confirm this with the Commissioner's office were unsuccessful.

Executive Director of Human Rights Group, Jamaicans For Justice (JFJ), Dr. Carolyn Gomes, is dissatisfied at the pace at which the investigation is progressing. However, she said she was not surprised.

"It can take forever," she revealed. "We have cases where they (investigators) are waiting years for ballistics reports and sometimes it takes years before the cases make their way to the DPP's office and, even then, sometimes it still takes years of waiting for a ruling from that office," she stated, noting that this delay severely hampers the outcome of the cases.

"Justice delayed is justice denied. Potential witnesses may die or leave the island. Pathologists may be re-assigned, their contracts end or they retire."

She added: "I think it is a disgrace, and we will continue to speak out, lobby for resources to be placed in the Bureau of Special Investigations, which will allow them to conduct investigations with a reasonable cadre of staff within a reasonable time. We will also continue to lobby for better funding for forensic investigations and better staffing for that department so we don't have to wait months or years for results of ballistic testing."

andrea.downer@gleanerjm.com