Mother shot dead

Barrington Flemming – Staff Reporter

A St. James woman was shot and killed last Wednesday in what many persons have surmised could be related to her efforts to protect her underage daughter from the overtures of an older man.

 The woman’s daughter has since been placed in protective custody.

The deceased has been identified as 38-year-old maintenance worker, Veneta Brown of Red Ground district, Montpelier, St. James.

Reports from the Anchovy police are that Brown was at home on Wednesday evening about 7:15 p.m. with family members, when a lone gunman kicked open her door and shot her several times all over her body.

The police were called and she was taken to hospital where she was pronounced dead.  Her family members escaped unhurt.

Meanwhile, reports gleaned by the Western Mirror from a reliable police source indicate that Brown’s 16-year old daughter would regularly run away from home to be with the older man.

In the most recent incident, the daughter is said to have run away to the man’s house and Brown made a report to the Anchovy police, who accompanied her to the man’s house last Monday, where the daughter and the man were found, along with two other men.

The girl was taken home by her mother, while the men were taken into police custody for failing to report a child in need of care and protection.

Following that incident, Brown is said to have taken her daughter to court on Wednesday and the court committed the girl to a place of safety.

 It was later that evening that her mother was shot and killed.