Redemption Sharpes resident shot dead during birthday celebration

Birthday greetings flowed over social media during the day, but it was “rest in peace” (RIP) and “my condolences” by the time night fell, as this country recorded its second killing for 2018.

Redemption Sharpes resident, 31-year-old Jaybarry Charles was celebrating his birthday with friends on Wednesday night in the pavilion of his neighbourhood playing field, when he was shot sometime after 8 p.m.

He is said to have been looking forward to celebrating his birthday and had been planning the night’s activities for weeks.

It is alleged that four gunmen opened fire on the group, hitting five males, one of which was Charles.

The other men were Maurice Charles, 18; Shem Richards, 17; Ronald Allen, 20; and Leon Neverson, 17.

They were all taken to the Milton Cato Memorial Hospital (MCMH), where Charles later died. The other men are said to be in a stable condition.

The shooting brought a sudden end to the peace the area had been enjoying since the year began. Redemption Sharpes, known in recent years for sporadic periods of gun violence, was relatively quiet before this shooting.

The Charles family is not new to this type of violence, as on August 12, 2017, Jaybarry’s younger brother, Kareem Charles, was shot in his left cheek and left arm, but lived. On that same night, Junior “Macho” Bibby was also shot, allegedly in the same incident. He too lived.

Also, Jaybarry was recently released from Her Majesty’s Prison (HMP), after serving a sentence for wounding and unlawful use of a firearm.

His incarceration stemmed from an incident in which Esron ‘Banks’ Ells, 22, also of Redemption Sharpes, died shortly after 10 p.m. on June 18, 2010, after he was shot in the area of the National Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) building at Richmond Hill, following an altercation with some men at Halifax Street near to the Postal Corporation building.

Ells, who sustained a gunshot wound to his right cheek, died on his way to the MCMH.

Jaybarry was jointly charged along with Shawn Phillips and Romano Pompey, initially with murder, but Phillips was released, and Pompey pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of manslaughter and unlawful use of a firearm, while Charles also pleaded guilty to unlawful use of a firearm and wounding.

The men were initially sentenced to 20 years in prison, but appealed and had their sentences reduced. Jaybarry’s sentence was reduced to 10 years, while Pompey’s was reduced to 18 years.