A Pinewood Gardens man, who was gunned down alongside his mother Tuesday evening, was a trial witness, who was scheduled to testify at an upcoming murder trial.

Twenty-three-year-old Dario Dean and his 53-year-old Noramae Johnson were both killed after armed thugs burst into their Buttonwood Avenue home and opened fire.

The Journal understands that Dean was out on bail and was still wearing an ankle bracelet at the time he was killed.

On Wednesday during a news conference to announce the relaunch of the Swift Justice programme, Attorney General Allyson Maynard-Gibson said the government will work to strengthen the witness protection programme and increase communication with the public to ensure that Bahamians are aware of the programme’s processes, growth and success.

Assistant Commissioner of Police Hulan Hanna said police found both bodies in the apartment.

“The incident occurred shortly after 10:00 p.m. Reports indicate that the victims were at home when some people forced their way into their home. They were shot multiple times about the body,” he said.

Despite this recent incident, however, Pinewood residents said the community remains a close one.

One resident, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said people from other communities are the ones committing the crimes.

“Pinewood always gets a bad rap,” he said.

“It is people who don’t live in these areas committing these serious crimes. In fact, all the residents would tell you that we take care of one another. These are isolated incidents and I thank God that Urban Renewal is now back because we need more police in the area especially during the night.”

The resident also told the Journal that the victims of the double homicide recently moved to Buttonwood Avenue and that no one knew them very well.

Another resident, Ronald Adderley shared similar views.

“This is a close knit community despite what other Bahamians in New Providence think,” he said.

“We need more police in this area. We need more police specifically targeting those gang members who come in these communities and cause trouble. Pinewood is peaceful and I know all of my neighbours. Whenever there is a problem, we argue among ourselves and then we make up the next day. These boys around here don’t cause any trouble.”

By the time the Journal revisited the homicide scene, Officer-in-Charge of the Pinewood Urban Renewal Centre, Inspector Virgiles Cenatus said his role in the Pinewood area will be to bring the community together.
“We have heard from residents that outsiders are committing these crimes,” he said.

“We will do our best to address that problem. We just launched on Monday, so we are trying to get things sorted. Our purpose is to bring the community closer together where everyone feels like brothers and sisters. Hopefully if we can do that then we can get a hold on the crime in the area, throughout New Providence and throughout the country.”

These latest murders pushed the country’s homicide count to 65.