EACH WEEK the Case Not Closed Desk revisits some of the most intriguing cold cases that continue to baffle investigators. This week we examine the murder of Alvin Phillips.
Anyone with information on this or any other case should contact the Crime Desk at 253-4871 or the Crime Stoppers hotline at 1-800-TIPS (8477).
A reward is given for information that leads to the solving of a crime.
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THE APOLOGETIC MAN turned to the stranger in the dimly lit nightclub in St Lawrence Gap, Christ Church. He had just accidentally stepped on the stranger’s foot and was uttering something about being sorry.
But on this night the stranger was not in a generous enough mood to accept Alvin Phillips’ “sorry”. There was an exchange of words and the stranger chucked the easygoing Alvin who responded by walking away.
Not far away Alvin’s sister Judith was in time to see the tailend of the incident – at which point her brother was walking away. He was there with another group and she went back to partying with some friends from overseas.
Shortly after, the loud music and din of revellers enjoying themselves was overtaken by a gunshot. When the panic was over and the area cleared, Alvin lay wounded with a shot in the back. Eyewitnesses claimed his injury was at the hands of the stranger that Alvin had had the unpleasant encounter with not so long ago.
The incident brought into sharp focus the quality of security at nightclubs. No one could or would say how the assailant entered the nightclub with a firearm even though the After Dark’s security personnel routinely frisked patrons upon entry during major events.
Safety was not all that the shooting would bring to the fore. Over in Phillips Road, St Stephen’s Hill, a nine-year-old girl was about to find out that the relationship between her and a doting father had come to an end.
Today Shanelle Grimes clings desperately to the few remaining memories of her father Alvin. The ten years since his murder have eroded most of the cherished moments the 19-year-old shared with him: a father whose Sunday ritual it was to take her to the beach or on family outings.
And for Shanelle that is where the memories end.
They are supplemented, however, by pictures, some of which did not always capture Alvin in his finest hour – as she would have liked. Still Shanelle hangs on to them.
A former friend of Alvin one day gifted her with a treasured picture of her father smiling widely.
“I remember we would go to the beach every Sunday, go on family picnics, by my aunt Caroline . . . ,” recalled Shanelle as she searched hard for other memories.
There were times when she would feel sad when she thought about all the things her father missed out on as she grew into a woman. Then there are times when frustration sets in as no one has been held for the death.
“I have no word on who killed him, and the police like they forgot about it,” said Shanelle of the murder.
Her anguish is also felt by Caroline Phillips, Alvin’s older sister, who has not given up on her brother’s killer being brought to justice.
“I still feel bad to this day, all now. I still miss him after all this time. They [the police] haven’t been in contact for a while now,” said Caroline.
Alvin, she said, was nice. While they resided together he looked out for her, cleaning the house, cooking and ensuring that all was well with her.
“Everyone has their ways, but my brother was really nice,” she said.
Caroline maintains contact with Shanelle. It’s the least she feels she can do in order to honour her brother’s memory.
“I owe him that much,” she said.
Strangely, there has been no word, the family said, on who was the shooter.
Judith said that occasionally the family would get a call from a policeman informing them they were taking over the case as the new investigator, but nothing ever came of it.
“Up to now, no one has been held or questioned,” she said.
She was in the After Dark on July 14, 2000, and realised something had gone wrong when the partying ended abruptly. But she never imagined it involved her brother, having seen him walk away.
As she left the nightclub she saw the ambulance, but continued on her way home. It was only when she arrived home in Mile-And-A-Quarter, St Peter, that she was informed it was Alvin who had been shot and killed.
She remembers a brother who was friendly, extremely likeable.
“He was an outgoing person, friendly; everyone liked him; he had a lot of friends,” she said.
Alvin’s goodnaturedness was borne out in the fact that although he and Shanelle’s mother were no longer together, he continued to reside at the home of Shanelle’s maternal grandmother Jenny Ifill. The former employee of the National Conservation Commission, was originally from Speightstown, St Peter.
At the time of the incident Jenny Ifill said of Alvin: “He was very quiet. I didn’t have a problem in letting him live at me because he was a good-behaved boy.”
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