A witness in whose Tivoli Gardens home five men were fatally shot during a joint police/military operation two years ago, yesterday testified that the men were unarmed and posed no danger to the security forces.
Her testimony, during a coroner’s inquest into the January 13, 2008 incident, is in stark contrast to the official version that the men were killed during a shoot-out.
The woman also testified that one of the men, who sought refuge in her Keith Avenue home, was beaten by three soldiers before he was dragged upstairs where he met his demise.
The witness was the third person to testify in the evening session on the second day of the coroner’s inquest into the incident in which a police officer and a soldier were also injured. The operation was reportedly carried out to apprehend wanted men believed to be hiding in the community.
Nine firearms were reportedly recovered in the operation that resulted in the deaths of 23-year-old Fitzroy Daley, 18-year-old Conrad Francis, 22-year-old Oneil Palmer, 20-year-old Ronaldo Mitchell, all of Tivoli Gardens addresses, and 23-year-old Kwesi Cunningham of Eltham Park in St Catherine.
Yesterday, the woman told the inquest that she was at home with her family when, around midday, the men rushed into her house. She testified to searching the young man, who she said was beaten by the soldiers, and found no gun on him. She said she did not see any of the other men with guns.
About 10 to 15 minutes later, she testified, soldiers entered the house and asked the man where his friends were. She said the man declined knowledge of what the soldiers were asking, while declaring that he had no gun.
Following the exchange, she said, one of the soldiers pulled the man from behind a sofa and the others started assaulting him before dragging him upstairs, while using expletives.
Moments after, she said, the man, who was not related to her, “bawl out and said ‘Auntie, come help me!'”, before six shots rang out.
The woman admitted to the inquest that she had lied to the soldiers that she and her family were the only ones on the building because they did not ask about the men upstairs and also because the men did not belong to her household.
Under cross-examination from attorney Bert Samuels later in the day, the woman denied that her reason for lying was that she knew that the men were armed and it would have been “hell and powder house if the soldiers went upstairs”. Samuels is representing the Jamaica Constabulary Force in the matter.
The woman said she had never seen any guns in Tivoli Gardens in all her 30-plus years residing in the West Kingston community.
The inquest, presided over by Judge Patrick Murphy, continues today at the Jamaica Conference Centre in Downtown Kingston. Three civilians and two police officers are scheduled to give evidence.
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