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A veteran Jamaican journalist is murdered, shocking the country and heightening security concerns

Globalvoices.org 

‘Living a fulfilling life for seventy-seven years [and] then somebody kills you in your home; tragic isn't the word, it's something else’

Originally published on Global Voices

Feature image via Canva Pro.

Seventy-seven-year-old Barbara Gayle lived in a quiet, pleasant gated community just outside of Kingston, where she was enjoying semi-retirement after a long career that spanned more than 50 years as a court reporter at the Jamaica Gleaner, widely considered the country's newspaper of record. On the morning of December 17, however, one of her neighbours found her dead — hit on the head and stabbed in the neck. Gayle had last been seen alive the previous afternoon, talking to a man on her verandah. CCTV footage showed her offering the man a glass of water.

It was soon discovered that Gayle’s car and phone were missing. The car was found on the morning of December 18, a couple of miles from her home. That same day, a suspect was arrested, though he has still not been charged. No motive has yet been established for the murder.

Gayle was a well-respected reporter and much loved by her media colleagues, all of whom were deeply shocked by her murder. Her reports on criminal cases were detailed, well researched, and unbiased. Her style was not a flamboyant one; she would sit at the back of the court, quietly taking notes in shorthand. Her journalism, always factual and above reproach, made her a beloved role model and mentor to younger journalists.

A petite woman, barely five feet tall, she was an active member of her local Seventh Day Adventist Church, who sent her neighbours and friends daily affirmations and motivational messages via WhatsApp. News of her murder, therefore, sent shock waves not only through her own community but throughout the country and wider Caribbean region, with her media colleagues particularly affected. Broadcast journalist Dionne Jackson Miller shared on X (formerly Twitter):

Integration Editor at the Jamaica Gleaner Damion Mitchell shared fond memories of Gayle, telling Global Voices via WhatsApp:

I was an editor for most of the time I worked with Barbara. I worked in radio and then online. Those are two of the most competitive fields in media and she understood the assignment. Literally! We developed a whole protocol on breaking court stories and would celebrate not only getting it first but getting it right. Her depth of knowledge, her resource library and the richness of her book of contacts made her an envy of every journalist. I marvelled at her note-taking skills, using shorthand. She was efficient, she was fast, she was one in a million. Then there was this cheerful, humourous, meek, and very humble side of her. She was so kind. She never, never made noise about what she was doing for people, but I know she made so many lives better by her deeds. A newsroom was filled with poking fun among colleagues, and Barbara was the boss at it. But she was never malicious, and she had this signature laughter. So much respect, she commanded; we called her ‘Justice’. She was an authority.

The Press Association of Jamaica (PAJ) shared a statement demanding that the crime be swiftly investigated. “Her passing leaves a void in the journalism fraternity, and she will be deeply missed,” it noted. Gayle had just been honoured by the PAJ at a Veterans’ Luncheon during Journalism Week.

The PAJ is offering a reward:

Prime Minister Andrew Holness expressed his condolences, noting that Gayle “was defined by truth, justice, and transparency”:

A Jamaica Gleaner editorial made the point that “Barbara Gayle was not a singular victim”:

Her death is a metaphor, emblematic of an encroaching nihilism and senselessness in Jamaica, manifested in the country’s high rate of murder and callousness in social relations.

So, increasingly, the villains murder even older people and women: 190, or 14 percent of the 1,393 intentional homicides last year were of women. Forty, or 21 per cent, of the female victims were over 45; seven per cent were 60 or over.

Barbara Gayle, a reporter for this newspaper, was 77. She is now part of Jamaica’s statistics as being among the most murderous countries in the world, with a homicide rate of around 50 per 100,000.

No one deserves to be part of [those] statistics.

Veteran journalist and podcaster Franklin McKnight — a recipient of Gayle’s daily motivational messages — agonised over her death and posted a heartfelt tribute on YouTube, noting sadly, “We have been killing roughly 1,100 of our fellow men every year for 20 years. If we had each of them alive, they would fill the National Stadium.”

Wyvolyn Gager, The Gleaner’s first woman editor, described her good friend’s death as “a body blow” to Jamaican journalism, adding: “If ever there is a lawyer who had no law degree, it was Barbara Gayle. She covered her beat thoroughly and Jamaica was better for it.”

Gayle’s murder raised anxiety levels among Jamaicans in general, even those who did not know her. One commented on Bluesky:

This Barbara Gayle murder has wounded me more than I expected. Watching the news story made me so depressed again.

— The_Badger_JM (@thebadger-jm.bsky.social) 17 December 2024 at 19:21

Other Jamaicans expressed anger, calling for the death penalty to be revived:

One young attorney tweeted:

Leading lights in the legal fraternity also paid tribute to Gayle, whom they trusted and respected. Director of Public Prosecutions Paula Llewellyn remembered her as being “unobtrusive as she went around the courts, but [she] was blessed with great observation and listening capabilities [and] keen intellectual acuity. [Gayle was] very discerning and she was able to get the trust of many critical stakeholders in the legal profession as she articulated and explained complex legal issues in her stories. She was a very positive mentor not only to colleague journalists, but also to young attorneys and court staff.”

The Jamaican Bar Association, in a statement, said that Gayle would be “remembered fondly by all members of the legal community, including attorneys-at-law, judges, and court staff.”

The role of security cameras was noted in reports on the murder. Footage from Gayle’s verandah of her conversation with a man (the last time she was seen alive) was shared on social media by one local newspaper:

The day after Gayle’s murder, National Security Minister Horace Chang told the media that Jamaica Eye, the island’s network of CCTV security cameras launched via a public-private partnership in 2018, was mostly out of order due to lack of maintenance. He did, however, confirm that cameras in the rural town of Santa Cruz were working at the time of a fatal stabbing in the town.

In light of recent occurrences, including two killings in broad daylight in Kingston, this is discouraging news. Jamaicans are also waiting to hear more news about a huge gun find discovered at Kingston Wharves on December 11, in which no arrests have been made to date.

Meanwhile, one crime reporter listed some of the murders he has reported on in the past month alone:

It is hoped that Barbara Gayle’s murder will soon be solved and that she will be graced with the kind of justice she made it her life's work to report on. An arrest may also help to calm Jamaicans’ nerves, with the Christmas holidays just a few days away.

Written by Emma Lewis

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