Email

Print

Daniel Ortiz reporting
Shortly after 9 on Saturday morning, Mayflower Street was chaotic, heightened emotions ranging from grief and mourning in one corner, and rage and hurt in another.

One of its well-known personalities, 40 year-old Edward Usher, aka "Ghost", was executed in this yard at #5 Mayflower Street, in the presence of other residents who were socializing with him.

His body lay slumped over the lower verandah steps where he fell, and took his last breath, in plain view of all of the residents of Mayflower.

Normally, when a crime scene is active, police work very hard keep the public out, but the Ghost Town did not allow police to push them behind the crime scene tape. After all, this was one of their own, and Ghost's murder was believed to have been the result of an old internal feud among members of the Ghost Town Crips.

Supt. Hilberto Romero - OC, CIB Eastern Division
"Police responded to a shooting incident at the Mayflower area. Upon arrival, police found one Edward Usher with multiple gunshot wounds to the body and to the head."

Voice of: Area resident
"Because of this feud that is going on, now and again you see they come with him. When one or two persons would come with him, somebody would talk violence to the young boys. The little boys would go about their business and when the other young man came in, he started to play with the little baby (the baby is his niece), while me and my grandson sit-down in the chair. When I listen I heard bang! I was still sitting down, because I know that sometimes they like to do foolishness around the place. So, I didn't get up and then afterwards I heard like 3 more shots. I still didn't get up, because like a pain strike me. I wanted to know really what is happening, but I didn't want to come out during the heat of gunfire because I don't know who it is."

Voice of Eyewitness
"To see somebody life going from them right there, that is hard because when he did the first shot, he didn't consider that he already shot someone - he came and finished empty him. He finished doing more shots and then other people were in the yard. He doesn't have consideration that he could have caught somebody else. Lots of children lives in this yard. He didn't thought that he could have caught a child or whatever - like he came senseless."

Supt. Hilberto Romero - OC, CIB Eastern Division
"The information we have is that one gunman enter the yard, approached the deceased Edward Usher and fired several shots at him. The information we have gathered is this is some rivalry they got in that area and that is what lead to this particular shooting."

Daniel Ortiz
"So, you are saying it's internal between Ghost Town?"

Supt. Hilberto Romero - OC, CIB Eastern Division
"Internal issues that they have at the Mayflower area."

Shortly after the shooting happened, residents of the yard alerted police, and they caught the man identified as the shooter. He was trying to flee the area. He's now the main suspect.

Supt. Hilberto Romero - OC, CIB Eastern Division
"Quick police response lead to the detention of the Percival Pilgrim, 18 years, of a Logwood Street address. He was in the area. A thorough investigation was conducted into that murder and we have now charged Percival Pilgrim for the crime of murder."

This accused gunman allegedly arrived in the yard in the company of 3 other young men from Mayflower. He is their friend, and so, after the incident happened, the grieving Mayflower mob turned their fury on these young men.

That led to hard talk between this youth and an older man escalating to what might become a fist fight.

The war of words became more serious with finger pointing and taunting, officers are

Police put 3 people in the pan of a police mobile, because the upset crowd was starting to behave like a mob-like, intending to put a beatdown on them.

There were more threatening gestures from each side, and then, it happened, one of the young men from the vehicle fired a kick at one of the men in the crowd. He retaliates by jumping at the man in the vehicle fire back with a punch, and the volatile situation quickly started getting out of hand.

The police on the front lines, particularly the officer detaining them, resorted to drawing his licensed weapon and brandished it threateningly to other men in the crowd. That finally calmed the other men down, and it allowed for the police mobile to ferry all 4 passengers out of the area.

FOR bystanders observing the effects of this feud, which caused Usher's death, they view it as completely pointless.

Voice of Eyewitness
"It started from a simple thing - man sweating for man. They disrespected my daughter. My son is the oldest for my daughter, he is 17 years old. He came and he didn't know what was happening the morning and he came and one of the young man started to curse him and started calling names telling him about how worms will take them."

Reporter
"A death threat."

Voice of: Area resident
"Exactly. That went to the police station. They talked it out and no case didn't come out of it."

Voice of Eyewitness
"All of us are one from around here and a simple caused this and I didn't think it would have reached this far and it is far now that it is hard to stop."

Daniel Ortiz
"Do you try to make interventions to lead them away from that lifestyle?"

Voice of: Area resident
"I talk to them sometime. But you only can do so much. They will not listen to you."

Today in court, 18 year old Percival Alonzo Pilgrim was accused of the murder of Amin Edward Usher. Shortly before 4:00, Pilgrim who is a resident of #34 Logwood Street was escorted to Court #1 before the Chief Magistrate, Anne Marie Smith. He was read a single charge of murder. He was denied bail and remanded to Prison until July 14, 2015.

And while it is easy enough to write this off as a gang murder - for Amin Edward Usher's mother it is not so simple. Monica Bodden spoke with her a short while ago - and we'll have that interview for you later in the news.