Blood dried up on a sheet of zinc, spots of blood on stones near the door way of a wooden structure, a dog hitched under a table not responding to strangers, the remnants of a crime scene tape and spots of blood on a grassy pathway, paint a picture of the horror meted out to a man residents describe as a nice and humble person.
Dead is 41-year-old Delroy Nicholson, a mason/construction worker of Boscobel View, St Mary.
Nicholson was said to have been stabbed several times during a dispute on Thursday night, July 27 in his yard. He was killed in what many have theorized was a family dispute that turned to tragedy.
The man, who residents have pointed to as the killer, is Nicholson’s stepson. This has left residents in shock and disbelief as they say the alleged killer was raised by Nicholson from he was a young child.
It was also a situation in which a son might have gone about things in a violent manner after he defended his mother, who reportedly had a dispute with Nicholson at a shop minutes before the tragic events of Thursday night unfolded.
But the man described as humble and kind by residents, may not have been an innocent victim as police reports indicate that Nicholson and his stepson both used knives to inflict wounds to each other.
Thestepson, who also is alleged to have received injuries from the incident, remains in the custody of the police. He has not been charged, but is to be questioned.
NIGHT STABBING
The Corporate Communications Unit (CCU) of the JCF reported that Nicholson and the other man, whose identity is being withheld, were involved in a dispute at about 11:30 p.m. when both men used knives to inflict wounds to each other.
The police were summoned and Nicholson and the other man were taken to the hospital. Nicholson was pronounced dead and the other man treated and released into police custody, the CCU report stated.
SHOP ARGUMENT
The minutes leading up Nicholson’s death can be fast tracked to a shop, where he had an argument with his spouse. Some residents claimed the woman was hit. When Nicholson went home, his stepson attacked him with a “cutting implement.”
The residents were not clear as to what was used to stab Nicholson at the time The Times visited on Friday.
One man, who wished for his identity to be withheld, explained to The Times that, what he saw happening at a shop.
“His (Nicholson’s) girlfriend sit at the shop and he (Nicholson) told her fi come go home and come off a the road. So she tell him that she soon come. I don’t know what happen next. A neva pay them nuh mind. When mi look mi see like blood all over her face. Here comes her son say ‘Mommy what happen’ and before she could a say ‘Delroy,’ him just turn back. Me in the shop same way…,” the man indicated.
He said that he later heard noises. “Everyone a say him (Delroy Nicholson) him dead and me see the yute weh him grow a pass with some stab inna him neck.”
BLOOD EVERYWHERE
When The Times went to the yard where the altercation occurred, there were no occupants of the house or family members to speak to. A black dog positioned himself under a small table outside the yard and made no attempts to bark at the new strangers venturing through the yard.
Close by, blood stains could be seen on stones near the doorway of the board house and on a sheet of zinc in the yard.
Residents also pointed to an area in the dirt track covered with grass that had blood stains. That is where residents said Nicholson was found lying lifeless with several stabs. They theorize he was trying to escape from his attacker.
HUMBLE MAN
Several neighbours described Delroy Nicholson as a very humble and good man, who did not deserve the death he received.
One of his neighbours, who only gave her name as Clare, said Nicholson was a good neighbour.
“Delroy (Nicholson) made no trouble… When I hear last night (Thursday, July 27) that him get that dead, him never deserve that death… Mi have to cry when I hear it,” she said.
Another woman living in the area, Carlene, said she had seen Nicholson that evening at the shop and they both later left the shop and went on their way.
The police say that the suspect in custody will be questioned before charges are laid.
