Over many decades there have been countless senseless murders that have been shocking. The news of the cruel death of Barbara Gayle has left me numb. A more gentle, modest, and conscientious person there never was.

I clearly recall Gayle’s earliest years as a cub reporter, when the existing doyenne of legal news, the late Sybil Hibbert, was introducing her to the advocates and the offices and intricacies of the Resident Magistrates Courts at Sutton Street and Half-Way-Tree. In short time, Gayle amassed her superb skills through preparedness in quiet, penetrating, and fruitful conversations to gain a thorough mastery of courtroom trials. As a legal scribe, she understood the essence of the evidence and complex points of law that eventually made her a reporter of the highest order.

Her acumen for comprehensive legal reports was such that practitioners, including myself, could rely on the integrity and completeness of a Barbara Gayle story in the most intriguing and complicated trials.

As the entire country is engulfed in condemning the heinous crime of her murder, it also marks a time for sober reflection on how to end such despicable crimes.

Gayle’s craft teaches us not to reach a verdict before all the evidence is in. But from what we know already, it is obvious that it will take more than the security forces — no matter how well equipped, trained, and deployed — to avert criminal atrocities of this malevolent kind. Our goal must be to prevent, for a life once taken can never be restored, regardless of the senseless stupidity or the profile of the tragic victim.

What must we, ‘Out of many, one people’, do to avert the slaughter of a peaceful, caring, Christian mother in the sanctity of her own home within a gated community?

We dare not deny that the cruel murder is but the most recently alarming in a catalogue of violent and dastardly acts of savagery.

We have overrun the gamut of glowing tributes and endless expressions of the determination to eradicate the monstrous rate of crime. It is high time that we face the awesome reality that we must begin to end this destruction of ourselves by a decisive change in the culture of our relationships within our homes, neighbourhoods, workplaces, schools, and recreational spaces. Anything less will be like recurring decimals which perpetuate our own individual vulnerability to criminal extinction.

We have scoffed at or ridiculed utterances from previous ministers of national security who have called for “divine intervention” or a visit to the “Obeah man”. However traditional or non-traditional their utterances, we must recognise and admit that there is the need for some broader generic force that encompasses all citizens and elements within the nation to step back from the edge of the abyss and prevent further slippage into calamitous chaos. The complete answer lies within ourselves. We must alter the prevailing psyche. Anger and greed must give way to caring and tolerance at every level.

Gayle’s brutal murder is a heartbreaking tragedy that underscores the urgent need for Jamaica to re-examine its values and prioritise those that are life-sustaining. The solution to the national dilemma has to begin with acknowledging the sacredness of life — the belief that one’s own life is of intrinsic value that necessitates valuing and treating others with respect.

We cannot allow an overemphasis on materialism to lead us to neglect our social and moral fabric. It is past time for Jamaica to reclaim its values and promote the attitudinal changes which emphasise the importance of respect for human life, empathy, civility, and kindness.

Gayle’s brutal murder is a wake-up call for Jamaica to take action and promote a culture of love, compassion, and shared humanity.

The judiciary, the Bar, the Press Association of Jamaica, the Church, the community, the Government, and the Opposition are all at one in recognising the sterling quality of Gayle’s contribution to freedom of the press in a democratic society.

This formidable array, fused with the contribution of our schools, musicians, and civil society, constitute an invincible force to stem the evil tide.

As we, the citizens, extend our sympathy to Gayle’s bereaved family, friends, and colleagues, we must not allow her life and work to go in vain. Let this irreparable loss impel urgency and unity to instil among us an acceptance by every human being in our island that life is indeed too precious to be extinguished by the wicked or deranged.

As our final tribute to this consummate professional, let us in our daily intercourse reflect the love, decency, and respect for each other which she embodied during her earthly sojourn.

PJ Patterson is a former prime minister of Jamaica and statesman-in-residence at The PJ Patterson Institute for Africa-Caribbean Advocacy.