Hired driver among 4 killed in North Coast shooting – DEADLY PJ

WHEN construction worker and part-time PH driver Kevon “Mincie” Andrews got a call late Friday night about a PJ (private job) to transport three men to Maracas Bay on Saturday, he jumped at the opportunity to make some extra cash.

It was a decision that would ultimately cost him his life and rob his one-year-old daughter of her father.

Andrews was reversing his silver Nissan Tiida out of a driveway in Damian Bay, North Coast Road, Maracas near a beach resort at around 12.05 pm, when another car drove and parked behind his own, blocking its path.

Gunmen exited the car and began shooting at Andrews’ car from different angles. The driver and his passengers – Keron Pope, 32, Carlton Campbell, 22, and Elijah Torrell, 18 – never stood a chance as they and the car were riddled with bullets. The gunmen then got back into their car and drove off.

The four were among nine people to be murdered between Friday and Saturday, which along with three murders on Sunday, took the weekend tally to at least 12. In addition, there were four police-involved shooting deaths also on the weekend.

Speaking with Newsday at her Santa Cruz home on Sunday afternoon, Andrews’ mother, Agatha Andrews, said her son worked as a construction worker and was also a part-time PH taxi driver.

She said he was warned repeatedly to be careful about taking on PJs, but he was always on the lookout to make extra cash to take care of his family. Andrews called on the police to work harder to get illegal guns off the street.

“I always told him to be careful, especially at nights with these PJs. It ent a nice thing talking about your murdered son. I wonder how people end up dying so often.

“Everyday we’re hearing about a shooting or someone getting killed by the gun. It’s rapidly becoming the norm in this country.

“The police need to get rid of these guns, I don’t know how these guns are coming in the country in such quantities. If they get rid of the guns there will be peace.”

Andrews said her son worked hard to provide for his one-year-old daughter. Another one of Andrews’ relatives described him as a “yes man,” who seldom refused work.

The relative said Andrews got the call about the PJ to transport the three men late on Friday night and lamented that if Andrews was more selective about his private jobs, he might have still been alive today. “But he was that kind of person...he didn’t say no to anything.

“Whenever they called him for a job, he would go, whether it’s dropping children to school or what not, he won’t say no.

“I was in my bed when I heard he got the call and I just started to call upon the Lord because I know anytime you get a call at that hour it’s nothing good.”

Andrew’s uncle, Alston Andrews, said he was deeply saddened by his nephew’s murder. Andrews said that he too had warned his nephew about being careful when operating as a PH driver and taking on PJs.

“As a father I feel deep hurt over this and I know there are many families feeling the same way too, it’s nothing to be glad about. I’m still feeling upset, I can’t concentrate. I always warned him to be careful on the streets but you can’t follow them all the time.”

Police said they are exploring several angles to the quadruple murder and are working hard with homicide detectives to find the killers.

“The four men who died, we have information that some were picked up on homicide enquiries but were later released, so we want to believe this could have been gang-related,” said a senior police source.

“We know that the Friday night into Saturday morning, some altercation took place at a bar in the Santa Cruz district, but we’re not sure if that incident is related to the murder of these four men later on Saturday afternoon,” the source added.

Officers from the Homicide Bureau of Investigations (Region I) are continuing enquiries.