Bar owner gunned down after returning from daughter’s graduation
Residents say second victim in double murder was in wrong place at the wrong time
Published:Thursday | July 3, 2025 | 12:11 AMAndre Williams/Staff Reporter
Investigators assigned to the Major Investigation Division (MID) are probing, among other matters, whether stolen illegal firearms are the motive behind a double murder on Tuesday night in Mount Salus, St Andrew.
The Gleaner understands that one of the deceased men, Kimani ‘Smuggle’ Hyman, bar owner of a Mannings Hill district address, was the target of the attack.
The gunmen also shot and killed Romario Trail, also of a Mannings Hill address.
Trail, according to residents, was in the wrong place at the wrong time.
“Him never did fi dead. Him innocent,” a resident told The Gleaner.
The Gleaner understands that the day before the deadly attack, people with knowledge of the withholding of the gun tried to talk Hyman into returning the firearm.
“Di man dem tell him say run back the strap dem and nuh make things get out of hand. Him and the man dem did a link, and him tek the man dem things and nah give di man dem nuh good talk. Dem say dem must kill him, him mother, and his brother,” the resident, who requested anonymity, said.
The Gleaner was told that the issue stemmed from another parish and police division.
Reports are that about 9:15 p.m., loud explosions were heard and people were seen running for cover.
The bloodletting caught some folks by surprise, as scores of residents visited the scene after they saw blue flashing lights, signalling the police were on location.
“A yesterday his (Hyman’s) daughter graduate from the primary school out there so and him go and support her. No sooner than when he returned and went to his shop, dem come kill him ... . People a go say if dem never mix up them family wouldn’t dead. We don’t want the violence around here, we nuh use to it,” an elderly resident said.
A senior police investigator told The Gleaner that law enforcement is following strong leads, including the defiance to return illegal guns.
The police said they would increase their presence in the area to reassure the residents that calm will be restored.
As at June 28, the St Andrew North Police Division recorded a 43 per cent reduction in murders.
Seventeen murders were reported in the division, compared to 30 for the corresponding period in 2024.
Shootings, injured persons and reports of rape have also declined, but robberies and break-ins recorded 192 and 160 per cent increases, respectively.