Fifty-year-old business-woman Merlene McDonald was brutally gunned down by unknown assailants outside her home at Boundbrook Avenue in Portland shortly after 10 p.m. on Saturday.

Detective Inspector Jervis Moore of the Port Antonio police said McDonald drove up to her house about 10:20 Saturday night with her four-year-old grandson in a white Toyota Harrier SUV.

"Upon entering her gate, she honked her horn as is customary," Moore said. "She also exited the right-hand-driven vehicle to retrieve her grandson who was probably seated in the rear seat of the vehicle when she was pounced upon by unknown assailants. She was shot several times in the head.

The police said persons who heard the explosion went to investigate and found McDonald lying on her back in a pool of blood on the ground by the left side of the vehicle.

"So far, a preliminary obser-vation carried out on the body has revealed three gunshot wounds to the head," Moore said. He theorises that she was returning from work when she was attacked.

McDonald, along with her husband, operated a chain of supermarkets and wholesale stores on West and Blake streets in Port Antonio.

Investigators said they are pursuing the possibility that robbery was not the only motive for the murder.

Eyewitness claims

In the meantime, a number of residents claiming to be eye-witnesses to the murder claimed they saw two men running from the scene of the crime shortly after the explosions were heard.

According to the residents, the men boarded a white motor car that was awaiting them and sped off.

A man who was detained yesterday morning in connection with the shooting has since been released.

The police also recovered several spent shells from the crime scene.

This now brings the number of persons murdered in the parish since the start of 2009 to seven.