Man killed in Cocorite, 8 dead in 3 months

Thirty-two-year-old Gilanni Ash became the eighth person to be shot dead in Cocorite in the past three months, as a wave of violence continues to hit the area.

Ash, a labourer employed by the Unemployment Relief Programme, was killed at his apartment in Building 1, Cocorite on August 26.

Ash’s brother told police they were in their bedroom around 7.45 pm when Ash left to go to the living room.

He said he heard several gunshots after Ash left the room. He checked and found Ash slumped in the apartment’s front doorway. Ash’s brother moved his body and tried to help him before calling the police.

Police say Ash was found shirtless and with bullet wounds to his chest, back and head.

The district medical officer visited the scene and pronounced Ash dead.

His body was taken to a funeral home, where it was stored before being transferred to the Forensic Science Centre in St James for an autopsy.

Police found four deformed projectiles and eight 9mm spent shells at the scene.

Newsday approached Ash’s family for comment at the forensic centre on August 27 but his relatives said they were too distraught to speak.

On May 4, gunmen shot at a group of people liming in the area, leaving four dead and eight people injured.

The men who died were Shaquille Ottley, 22; Sadiki Ottley, 31; Jonathan Osmond, 36; and Antonio Jack, 57.

Then on June 6, gunmen shot at another group of limers in the same community, killing 43-year-old Kern Moore, and injuring two other men.

The violence continued on August 6, when Daniel Morris, 32, of Cocorite Terrace, was found around 8.25 pm at an abandoned house with gunshot wounds to the head.

Two weeks later, on August 21, Avid "Blindy" Reece, 47, of Upper Cocorite Terrace, was shot and killed near his home.