Residents of the Jamaican parish of St James are reeling from shock after a well-known local fruit vendor, previously recognized for his courage during a 2022 flood rescue attempt, was killed in a shooting in Montego Bay over the weekend.
Forty-two-year-old Kelvin Pyne, a long-time resident of the Orange neighborhood of St James, was found unresponsive shortly before midnight on Saturday. His body was discovered lying face down on Miriam Way, a street in central Montego Bay, with multiple visible gunshot wounds to his body.
Emergency responders rushed Pyne to the nearest local hospital immediately after the discovery, but medical staff pronounced him dead upon arrival. The Jamaica Constabulary Force’s St James division has since opened a full criminal investigation into the shooting, with officers currently working to trace the gunman and establish a clear motive for the killing. No suspects have been publicly named or arrested as of the latest updates.
Beyond his reputation as a familiar local vendor, Pyne leaves behind a legacy of bravery that the community has not forgotten. In April 2022, when catastrophic floodwaters swept through Montego Bay, Pyne was one of three local men who rushed into the raging currents to try to save two people trapped by the flood: Beryl Walters and her young grandchild Jennel Walters. Despite the desperate, valiant efforts of Pyne and the other rescuers, both were swept away by the fast-moving floodwaters. Jennel’s body was recovered by search teams in the days after the disaster, but Beryl Walters was never found, leaving her family to grieve without closure.