Public Relations Officer for the Music Makers Junkanoo group Alphonso “Chicken” Albury said the mere fact that the group’s home base is located in a crime hotspot does not mean the group is breeding gang bangers or is in any way connected to them.

The murder of 17-year-old Aaron Turnquest took place through Fowler Street, just feet away from where the Music Makers’ three work shacks are located.

Mr. Albury said in recent times his group has been “falsely connected to” the brewing gang war in the surrounding areas.

He said he wanted to make it unequivocally clear that this murder and any other criminal incident through that corner is not connected to his group.

“This isolated incident is not affiliated in any way with the Music Makers Junkanoo group,” he said. “People are calling and saying this shooting occurred at our shack but I want the general public and the Junkanoo world to know that there has never been any shootings with the Music Makers practices or at our sites.”

Mr. Albury added that he has been receiving too many calls from concerned people questioning him about the group’s members.

In fact, he said it has gotten so bad that it is growing increasingly hard for the Junkanoo group to attract sponsors and new members.

“There has been talk for several years that people don’t want to come through Fowler Street because the Music Makers group is nowhere for people to be but this incident has nothing to do with us,” he said.

“In fact, none of these men are even a part of our group. They don’t rush with us, they don’t paste with us; they are not a part of us.”

The group’s public relations officer said while Turnquest was not a part of his group he knows him just from being in the area.

“I know him to be a quiet young man who was looking for a job,” Mr. Albury said. “Now I can’t say much about whether he was involved in any other negative things but young people today have so much going on you just don’t know.”