Howard Campbell, Gleaner Writer
Members of the security forces examine the remains of seven houses destroyed by fire at 87 Mountain View Avenue, south-east St. Andrew, yesterday during a flare-up of violence in the area. - RUDOLPH BROWN/CHIEF PHOTOGRAPHER
BISHOP HERRO Blair, head of the Peace Management Initiative, will this morning meet representatives of violence-plagued communities off Mountain View Avenue in an effort to halt the rash of deadly flare-ups that has rocked the area since Monday.
Those murdered on Monday are Celia Berry, 37, of Jacques Road; Jashrine 'Nardian' Reid, 23, of Hunter Avenue, and her three-month-old son, Quwayne Ross. Last night, the police placed a curfew on the warring communities around Jacques Road
Blair's meeting today follows that of Deputy Commissioner of Police, Mark Shields, who met yesterday with residents of battle-scarred communities in nearby east Kingston in a bid to get them to support the police in their fight against crime.
"What we are doing at the moment is working with the community and community leaders and (we have) intensified our policing in certain areas with a view to try to get the thing under control," DCP Shields told The Gleaner. "If we are able to do that and return to some peace and order, then I'm hoping that we can work with our partners in a wider sense to get some social intervention, get some money into these areas and redirect those involved in something else."
The Constabulary Communi-cation Network (CCN) reported yesterday that Berry was shot and killed by a group of men at her home at 5:45 p.m. She was pronounced dead at the Kingston Public Hospital. According to the CCN, a police party discovered the bodies of Ms. Reid and her child at Hunter Avenue where gunshots had been heard earlier.
Both had been shot several times. Police say the six houses were razed at 8:00 p.m. at Baron Road. The flames reportedly spread from one of the homes before engulfing adjoining homes. It took three units from the Rollington Town Fire Department to put out the blaze.
Arson is suspected.
