Rasbert Turner, Gleaner Writer

SPANISH TOWN, St. Catherine:

A 36-year-old man who was scheduled to appear as a witness in the Half-Way Tree Court this morning, was shot dead by unknown assailant(s) in Old Harbour Bay, St. Catherine, yesterday afternoon.

The police say Andy Richards, a businessman of Kelly Pen in Old Harbour Bay, was killed about two o'clock.

Richards was sitting near a shed in his community when a white Toyota Caldina motor car, with several persons on board, drove up.

It is reported that one of the occupants pointed a gun at him and shot him several times all over his body.

He died on the spot.

A relative of the deceased told The Gleaner that this was not the first time Richards was being attacked.

She said last year Richards had a near-miss after men fired shots at him in close proximity to his house in Kelly Pen.

"He refused to go into the witness protection programme and if he had gone on the programme he might have been around today. It is really sad, " she said.

On May 28 last year, Richards' nephew was shot and killed by gunmen in Dumbeholden. Mr. Richards was a witness in that case which is scheduled to be mentioned in court today.