Cops arrest suspect in Ebanks killing
(CNS): A 25-year-old West Bay man was arrested on Friday in connection with the murder of David Ebanks last month at a local jerk food stand on Birch Tree Hill Road. An RCIPS spokesperson did not give any details about when the arrest took place but said that the suspect was arrested on suspicion of murder and the theft of a motor vehicle and is currently in police custody.
David Ebanks (20), whose step-father is a serving police officer, was gunned down on 23 January by Undra’s jerk chicken stand close to Kelly’s Bar in the heart of West Bay. It is believed that he was not the killer’s target and that the intended victim was an active gang member who was standing close to the food stand. He is thought to have been injured but did not report being hit to the authorities. Two stray bullets also hit a house close to the area as the gunman opened fire.
This is the first arrest on suspicion of murder that police have made in this case, which was the second killing of the year. Ebanks’ death came less than three weeks after Victor Yates was shot dead on 3 January outside Super C’s bar and restaurant on Watercourse Road, also in West Bay.
Justin Manderson (22), who is also from the district, was charged with his killing last week and is schedule appear in Grand Court next Friday. Manderson was shot in the wrist by another unidentified gunman outside a West Bay liquor store just a few days after the murder of Yates. Although police made one arrest of a Jamaican national in that case, no charges have been brought.
