POLICE investigators along with relatives and close friends of murdered Mighty Diamonds lead singer, Donald Shaw, popularly known as “Tabby Diamond”, have the unwanted task of piecing together a puzzle to the mystery behind the shooting death of a reggae legend.
Shaw, who was in his 60s, and another man were shot dead Tuesday night on McKinley Crescent in St Andrew as they stood among a group of people across the street from his house. Three other people were shot and injured during the incident.
One man, who declined to share his name due to fear for his life, in case he offends the perpetrators with his comments, told the Jamaica Observer that those responsible should be hunted and put in prison where they should die, for the murder of one of reggae music’s and Jamaica’s legends.
“We have some gunman weh di Government need fi build a place far away and put them ’til dem dead. How can you kill a legend? What can a legend do for you to kill him? The answer is, nothing. A madness gwaan!
“Di man seh ‘I need a roof over my head’ and a him seh ‘pass the kuchie pon di left hand side’. Dat show seh a peace di man a deal wid. Weh dem kill di legend fa? Tabby Diamond not even a kill mosquito. He is a peaceful and humble man. Dem man deh tell poor people seh dem fi have roof over dem head. So how poor people fi gun dung another poor man like themselves?”
One of Shaw’s daughters told the Observer her father was killed before getting to uncover and enjoy his dinner on Tuesday.
“His dinner is there on the stove same way. I don’t sleep from Tuesday. Let me ask you something. Me fi come out a my gate every morning and know seh a right deh so dem kill mi father? You mean seh mi nah go get no more chance fi tek picture wid mi father? My father walk and tell everybody seh me a him mad daughter. Mi a go get something fi drink and go bathe and lay down,” she said, while making it known that she is going through a very stressful time.
A friend of Shaw, who gave his name as Idrine, said the murder brought about a similar feeling as when Bob Marley died of cancer in 1981. The man added that Shaw was never someone to treat people in a threatening manner or one who would preach violence.
“You know how di nation did feel when Bob did gone? This is similar. It is soul deep. Words cannot explain. This come een like a wound weh can’t heal. He was a figure in the community who never even point a finger threateningly to a youth. He was busy doing his work to get his life together. Instead, some man waan tell you who to talk to. A man will nuh like a next man and him a seh you nuh fi stop and talk to another man. Likkle more you hear seh dem lick dung a man because him stop a talk to somebody. Di whole community a go mash up,” the man said, highlighting that Shaw was a “column stone”, whose music will forever be played across the world.
“His status is great within music. Him come from the place where Bob Marley grow up. A straight hits him deal wid. All a him song dem can’t stop play.”
A woman, who told the Observer that she is a girlfriend of one of Tabby Diamond’s sons, decried the killing and said her spouse, who is a big fan of his father, would probably have been killed in the attack if he had been able to have his usual rendezvous with his father.
“A 15 years mi know Tabby and him never inna no problem with nobody. All mi know is him always a give to people. Mi never hear him and nobody inna problem. Di only place mi know him go is studio.
“My boyfriend was to do a coronavirus test so he could get to do an eye surgery. He took today off to do the surgery but his father was murdered in the night and my boyfriend missed it by the skin of his teeth. Him and him father close. When him come from work him always ask if him father pass through. If mi seh no, him come up here come look fi him. Tuesday night him come up here because him father did supposed to give him a money to go doctor.
“He visited him last night but him nuh see him because him did gone a studio. Him come dung back and seh him never see him and he will check him tomorrow. About 9:30 pm or 10:00 pm him get the call seh this happen. If him father did deh here, him woulda siddung wid him same place and him woulda get shot too,” she said.
Superintendent Kirk Ricketts, who heads the St Andrew South Police Division in which McKinley Crescent lies, told the Observer on Wednesday that the shooting may have been a result of gang conflict in the area running from 2012.
“There are a number of things we know. We know that this particular area has been plagued by gang conflict for some time now. It pre-dates me as commander. In the McKinley Crescent and Wint Road area there are a number of factions warring with each other for some time now. The preliminary assessment points to a continuation of this gang conflict,” he said.
“We have been speaking to sources, community members and there is a lot of finger-pointing. Of course, persons on the different warring sides, their names are being called and we are leaving no stones unturned. Mr Shaw’s son, who we have in custody on a murder charge, is known to be a violence producer in this particular space and we are trying to assess to see if any of the son’s activities in the past could have led to the father being targeted. At the same time, we are not saying that he was the target,” Ricketts said.
