Homicide count rises to 24 as SVG records 6 killings in 12 days

The shooting death of a man in Diamond Friday night has taken the homicide count in St. Vincent and the Grenadines to 24 this year as the country has recorded six killings in 12 days.

The latest victim has been identified as Kimani Richards aka Manny, 46, of Diamond.

Richards died at the scene after being shot.

Initial reports are that Richards and friends were liming at a shop close to his home when two masked assailants approached and opened fire.

Richards was shot multiple times before the assailants fled.

His death came two days after Osborne Glasgow aka Soca, 63, was shot and killed inside the first-floor apartment where he lived with his widow and children at Harmony Hall.

Police have said that Glasgow was shot and killed by burglars during a home invasion.

After Glasgow’s death, Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves, who is also minister of national security, said he had summoned a meeting of the top brass of the police force for last Wednesday.

Since then, neither the prime minister nor the police have said anything about the outcome of their deliberations.

The frequency of homicides in SVG this year puts the country on track to match the record 55 recorded last year, following 42 in 2022, another record.

Police have classified 52 of the killings last year as murder.

Meanwhile, iWitness News understands that police are awaiting the outcome of an autopsy as their investigation continues into the death of a woman whose naked body was found in her home in Layou on Friday morning.

Reports are that the woman had an injury to the head, which suggested that she might have fallen while exiting her shower.

The woman’s body is said to have been naked.

Police have not issued any statement on the discovery of that body.