PORTLAND, Jamaica — The Portland police are reporting that one of two suspects held last week in connection with two murders committed on Friday and Saturday has been charged.

A 32-year-old construction worker from Halls Avenue in Port Antonio, Ricardo “Peng” Downer, has been charged with murder. He is being represented by attorney-at-law John Jacobs and is to appear in the Portland Parish Court early this year.

READ: UPDATE: Police hold two suspects in Portland murders

Downer was charged in connection with the death of 55-year-old Calvin James, otherwise called Jeggy, a resident of Janga Gully in Boundbrook. James was reportedly stabbed in the abdomen after an argument developed at a shop in Halls Avenue last Friday.

The suspect held in connection with the murder of 66-year-old Carlister Salmon, otherwise called Jerome or Jerro, has not been charged.

READ: Portland murders rush to 14 in 2022

Last Saturday morning Salmon, who usually sleeps in the yard of the Friends Church on Smatt Road in Port Antonio, was found lying at the front of the building in a pool of blood. His head was bashed in and there was a large stone beside his body.

OBSERVER ONLINE understands that the suspect held in his murder may have been involved in two other murders of street people in the Port Antonio area. Investigations continue.

-Everard Owen