Elva Mullings and Keith Hinds - File

THE POLICE have yet to make a breakthrough in the murder of businesswoman Elva Mullings, who was shot by a gunman in front of her Bridgeview, Portmore, home last Monday.

"We are getting bits and pieces of information, but there are no major leads, and no arrests have been made," Deputy Superintendent Clive Blair, operations officer for the St Catherine South Police Division, told The Sunday Gleaner.

attacked at home

The 45-year-old Mullings was general manager of Tools, Hardware and Supplies Limited. The police say she was attacked shortly after arriving home at 6 p.m. by a gunman who shot her several times.

Richard Whyte, sales manager at Tools Hardware and Supplies Limited's South Camp Road branch, said he was at the Portmore Mall when he heard news that Mullings had been killed.

Whyte said he hurried to the crime scene where the police found Mullings' body in the back of her vehicle.

"She was strict when it came on to the job, but when it was time to joke, she was a different person," Whyte said.

Whyte told The Sunday Gleaner that Mullings had worked with Tools, Hardware and Supplies Limited for 10 years. She started with the South Camp Road branch before moving to the company's Spanish Town Road headquarters.

Following her death, a reward totalling $1 million has been offered for information leading to the arrest and charge of the person or persons responsible for her murder.

Mullings' death has occurred during a crime wave that has engulfed sections of Portmore, a sprawling working-class community in St Catherine that is home to over 250,000 people.

"There has been an increase in murders, maybe about seven per cent," Blair said. He was unable to give the latest Portmore homicide statistics, but said they were among the highest in the St Catherine south region. The police blame many crimes there on gangs, like the Unruly, Umbrella, Boston and Lynch Mob gangs.

hit man

The police have made some inroads by helping to imprison Keith 'What A Sight' Reid, an alleged hit man from Waterford; Wilberforce 'Crackers' Mattherson, a gang leader from Gregory Park; and Kevin 'Kill Dead' Walters from Braeton.

Portmore Mayor Keith Hinds says most of the gang activity takes place in the neighbourhoods of Naggo Head, Newlands and Southborough. He believes the criminals are outsiders.

"It's a migratory situation. Portmore was relatively crime free until recently," said Hinds.

Another problem, Hinds pointed out, was the level of prostitution on the Port Henderson strip, which he said attracted "negative elements".

Beefed-up police patrols in that area have resulted in considerable flight by the streetwalkers. Hinds said his council has had several meetings with the police to discuss crime solutions. There has recently been a resumption of patrols by bicycle cops and community conferences, some of which have been attended by senior officers in the St Catherine South division.

howard.campbell@gleanerjm.com