The communities of Beecher Town and Hinds Town were thrown into deep mourning on Monday, May 18, when a taxi operator was shot dead at the wheel of his car that overturned, seriously injuring one passenger.Dead is 39-year-oldRoy Fredrick Coley, also called ‘Blue Blue’of Three Hills, St Mary who was a regular driver serving Beecher Town and other communities on the Ocho Rios to Hinds Town route.Police believe the death of Coley was a hit.Coley was on the route Monday afternoon and left Ocho Rios about 5 p.m. with at least three passengers in his vehicle when he picked up two others at Gully Road.Whilethe vehicle was along a lonely stretch of the road near a gully were people get water, reports are that one of the two he had picked up on Gully Road pulled a gun and without warning shot Coley in the head. Coley lost control of the car which overturned.
SERVED COMMUNITY
The murder took place in a desolate area known as Twickenham Pum Yard just outside the community of Beecher Town. Coley’s body was found in the middle of the road, next to his gray Noah bus.The gunman and his crony quickly made their escape. Police say their investigation revealed that they escaped in a waiting car.The other passengers exited the vehicle. One of them was seriously hurt and hospitalized with injuries to the shoulder and back.
Councillor for the Beecher Town division in the St. Ann Parish Council, Ian Bell in an interview with North Coast Times, said Coley was one of the hardest working taxi drivers who ensured the transport of residents in the area.“I saw his lifeless body there on the scene in the middle of the road and I can remember saying that the man born of a woman is cut down like a sucker… Blue Blue was a kind and hardworking man,” explained Councillor Bell.Roy Fredrick Coleyand his family had reportedly migrated from the parish of Manchester and settled in the quiet community of Beecher Town. Coley was deported from the USA approximately two years before, according to Councillor Bell and concentrated on his taxi operations. He moved to Stewart Town in St. Mary and resided with his fiancée some months before his untimely death.The family members in Beecher Town are in grief at the death of their loved one, RoyFredrick Coley. His mother, Joyce Daphnie Coley and his sister, Georgette Coley, have all been thrown into deep mourning.There are unconfirmed reports that the Coley family had a major dispute with an area resident and had sought the intervention of the police.
When The Times made contact with Coley’s sister, Georgette Coley, she said she was unable to speak.
