KINGSTON, Jamaica — What began as a trivial disagreement over a block of ice devolved into a double fatal tragedy on the streets of downtown Kingston this Wednesday, leaving one woman dead at the hands of her accused attacker, who was himself shot and killed by police hours later.
Local law enforcement has identified the suspect as 35-year-old Davar Dacres, who went by the street name “Davy” and maintained a residence on King Street in central Kingston. His alleged victim was 50-year-old Katherine Wallace, widely known as “Kathy” from the nearby Fleet Street neighborhood. Surveillance camera footage from the area captured the entire stabbing incident, according to initial police reports.
Authorities have reconstructed the timeline of the confrontation: shortly after 5:20 p.m., Dacres and Wallace were both drinking at a small, unlicensed corner bar near Love Lane, where the argument over ice first broke out. What started as a verbal shouting match quickly escalated into a violent physical clash, during which Dacres pulled a 6-inch ratchet knife and stabbed Wallace multiple times in her chest and upper torso. Bystanders rushed the injured woman to the nearest public hospital, but medical teams were unable to save her, and she was pronounced dead less than an hour after arrival.
By 11:25 p.m. the same evening, law enforcement had tracked Dacres to Hanover Street, just a 10-minute walk from the scene of the stabbing, and moved to intercept him. Police accounts confirm that Dacres, still carrying the same ratchet knife used in the attack, charged at responding officers when they ordered him to surrender and drop the weapon. After repeated warnings went unheeded, officers opened fire, striking Dacres multiple times. He was transported to the same hospital where Wallace had been pronounced dead, and he also succumbed to his injuries before emergency treatment could begin.
Superintendent Mischka Forbes, head of the Kingston Central Police Division, told reporters that the incident underscores a worrying shift in violent crime patterns across central Kingston this year. So far in 2025, this killing marks the third homicide recorded in the division, and the second to involve a knife as the murder weapon.
Forbes voiced growing concern over the changing face of violence in the area. “What we are seeing is a reduction in gang-related conflicts and a rise in domestic and interpersonal disputes since 2025,” she explained. While long-standing gang violence has dropped thanks to targeted enforcement operations, petty disagreements that turn deadly now account for a growing share of homicides, a trend police say they are working to counter.
In response to the uptick in knife-related violence, the Kingston Central Police Division has ramped up “Operation Blade”, a aggressive zero-tolerance initiative focused on rooting out illegal possession and use of offensive weapons across the district. “We will continue this operation alongside our community engagement efforts in partnership with key stakeholders aimed at promoting conflict resolution and discouraging violence,” Forbes said. The division is working with local churches, community groups, and mediation nonprofits to host public workshops on de-escalation and peaceful dispute resolution.
Forbes is urging all local residents to avoid resorting to violence when disagreements arise, and to reach out to trained community mediators or police to resolve conflicts before they turn deadly. In line with standard protocol for police-involved fatalities, the Independent Commission of Investigations (Indecom) and the Inspectorate and Professional Standards Oversight Bureau (IPROB) have launched independent probes into the shooting of Dacres to determine whether the use of force complied with national policing guidelines.