MANCHESTER, JAMAICA – A 27-year-old active member of the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) has been remanded into custody following his first court hearing Friday, charged with the brutal murder of his 29-year-old girlfriend Tanzanya Dunkley in the rural Three Chains community last week.
Damanice Tyrone Williamson appeared before Manchester Parish Court Judge Anneil Coote-Guinness, who issued formal orders for two critical pre-trial procedures: a full psychiatric evaluation of the defendant and official fingerprint processing. The high-profile nature of the case drew crowded galleries to the courtroom, with family members of both the accused soldier and the slain victim in attendance to follow proceedings. Williamson is currently represented by experienced local defense attorney Norman Godfrey.
The charges against Williamson were filed over the weekend immediately after he confessed to the killing during a police interrogation, according to law enforcement sources. In his confession, Williamson made the extraordinary claim that an unidentified inner voice commanded him to carry out the fatal attack, a senior police source confirmed to the Jamaica Observer.
The confrontation that preceded the murder unfolded after a heated argument, when Dunkley announced her decision to end the romantic relationship. When Williamson grabbed her smartphone in an attempt to stop her from leaving, she clung to him to retrieve her device. That’s when the soldier said the voice instructed him to act, he told investigators: he grabbed a nearby knife and cut Dunkley’s throat, the source recounted.
Witnesses from the tight-knit Three Chains neighborhood told reporters on April 3 that they heard loud screams emanating from the family home around 3 p.m. on the day of the killing. Moments later, they spotted a man matching Williamson’s description running from the property, his clothing stained with what looked like blood.
Prior to the attack, police investigations have confirmed, Williamson sent Dunkley’s 12-year-old daughter to an upper floor of the home, telling the child he needed to speak privately with her mother. The girl was unharmed in the incident.
After Williamson was taken into custody at Mandeville Police Station, a user-uploaded video circulating widely across Jamaican social media platforms went viral. The footage shows a man identified as the suspect, holding what appears to be a knife, repeatedly urging responding police officers to shoot and kill him. The video has amplified public attention on the case exponentially.
Beyond the shocking details of the killing itself, the incident has reignited long-simmering national debate about the persistent crisis of domestic violence across Jamaica, a problem that has drawn repeated calls for policy and community intervention in recent years.