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BASSETERRE, St. Kitts, CMC – Police are appealing to the public for assistance as they continue their investigations into the murder of two family members, including a nine-year-old child last Friday.
The Royal St. Christopher and Nevis Police Force said it is working to uncover the circumstances surrounding the murders and have appealed to anyone with information about the case to come forward and assist with the investigation.
Police said that the bodies of 30-year-old Devon Parris and nine-year-old J’Marni Smithen, both from Nevis, were found with visible gunshot wounds to their heads inside a vehicle.
They said preliminary investigations indicate that the two were due to attend a birthday party at the Caribbean Cinema, but that they never arrived at the destination.
Calls to Devon’s cell phone went unanswered and the bodies of the two were found in the vehicle in some bushes in Newton Ground, a settlement in the far north of the island .
Late last month, Prime Minister Dr. Terrence Drew said a national consultation on crime will be held here on August 22, as he called for an end to the murders in the twin island Federation.
He said that of the 19 murders that had been committed so far this year, intelligence suggests that two-thirds of those homicides were as a result of gang violence and reprisals.
“The national consultation on Crime will invite all political organizations, all civil society organizations, and anyone who cares about this Federation to come to the table to provide their ideas and plans for us to end this decades-long scourge of violent Crime. This is my pledge,” he added.
