Note: Normally I provide these statistics at the end of every month. Barbados has recorded at least 23 homicides from the beginning of January to the end of April.
Disclaimer: My count and analysis are based primarily on mainstream media reports and Barbados Police Service information, as such, my numbers may be under-stated. Most importantly, my figures and insights should not be considered as official statistics, or final for that matter.- Source: barbadoscrimeblog.
Barbados Homicides: January to April 2026
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20 responses to “Barbados Homicides: January to April 2026”
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TROUBLED MEN
Many ‘suffering in silence, fearing shame and ridicule’
By Natanga Smith natangasmith@nationnews.com
One in every five men seeking help through Men’s Empowerment Network Services (MENS) has reported experiences involving physical violence but advocates say many male victims still suffer in silence because they fear ridicule, shame and disbelief.
Even more alarming, according to MENS founder Fabian Sargeant, is the number of men who reveal troubling sexual experiences from childhood and adolescence that society often refuses to recognise as abuse.
“We have had about a third of the men exposed to early sexual initiation by adults,” Sargeant disclosed.
“A lot of what would truly be considered statutory rape is normalised culturally.”
He explained that in many Caribbean households and communities, older women engaging sexually with under-aged boys is often treated as an achievement for the child rather than abuse.
“People celebrate it as becoming a man but many men later speak about how those experiences negatively impacted their adult relationships, intimacy and emotional development,” he said.
Sargeant also raised concerns about vulnerable boys being preyed upon following the economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We have situations where young boys are struggling with housing because families are under financial pressure and some have been forced out of homes,” he explained. “When these boys are looking for places to stay or financial support, there are instances where older people prey on them.”
While he stopped short of calling the issue widespread, Sargeant admitted the exploitation existed far more than many people realised.
“These are things happening under the radar,” he said.
The comments came as counsellors and men’s advocates warned that abuse against men in Barbados remained significantly under-reported because societal expectations continued to discourage vulnerability among males.
This issue came to the fore after feedback by some who read the news report Walking In Fear in the Weekend Nation which focused on women who were afraid when they ventured out in public – whether day or night.
It was reported that some men also experienced similar traumas even though many were unwilling to talk about their issues.
Sargeant and chief executive officer of Supreme Counselling Services, Shawn Clarke, said many men did not seek help because the social environment often punished openness and emotional honesty.
“The issue of abuse against men in Barbados is a lot more prevalent than we see. Men traditionally, or even culturally, do not ask for help. They are frowned upon and our social environment does not provide the space for men to be vulnerable or for that vulnerability to be accepted,” Sargeant said.
Although physical violence was among the cases being reported, Sargeant said emotional abuse remained the most common issue affecting men.
“A lot of men suffer from belittling, talking down to, emotional manipulation and financial abuse,” he explained.
He said many older men, particularly retirees involved in relationships with younger women, often find themselves emotionally and financially exploited but were too ashamed to speak publicly.
“These men are afraid to let people know what is happening to them because of their age and because of embarrassment,” he added.
According to Sargeant, the roots of male silence begin in childhood where boys are conditioned to suppress emotions rather than communicate them.
That conditioning, he believed, leaves many men unable to articulate trauma even when deeply affected by it.
Clarke said counsellors were seeing increasing signs of unresolved trauma among male clients, though sometimes the abuse itself was often not immediately disclosed.
“Cases involving abused men are more common than many people realise. Male victimisation is often underreported because of stigma, gender norms and fear of judgement.”
He explained that many male survivors did not enter therapy identifying themselves as abuse victims.
“Usually they come presenting with anger issues, aggression, withdrawal, substance abuse or emotional detachment,” Clarke said. “Only after trust is built over time do they begin revealing experiences involving physical, emotional or sexual abuse.”
Clarke also noted that many male victims feared being mocked if they report abuse, especially in domestic violence or sexual assault cases.
“Some men go to police stations and are literally laughed at,” he said. “There is fear of humiliation and fear of not being believed.”
Trust issues are also common among survivors, he said.
“They don’t necessarily trust people who are overly kind because they feel those people may have ulterior motives,” Clarke explained.
He said counselling provided an important safe space where men could begin processing trauma and rebuilding self-worth.
Source: Nation
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Charts need some rework.
Put year(s) on some charts
Try to get percentage to one hundred by creating a multiple category or just state a number. When percentages add to more than 100 it is confusing.
Victim demographic by age group? Is that really 1000 or is it 1.000 or 10.00
Monthly distribution – no vertical axis -
At the very popular Barbados Rally the video is a good example of current state, somebody pelting off a couple bullets and hardly a reaction from the crowd.
Are we there yet?
https://videos.files.wordpress.com/vhSlydiY/1a687797-9f42-49cf-8235-a0d5406388ff.mp4
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Folks reading NYT?
Why has no one cited this article, which says that gunboat operations have not slowed the flow of cocaine into the United States?
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/29/world/americas/us-boat-strikes-cocaine-trump-south-america.html
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@David
My most recent submission was misdirected it should be in the column about “geopolitics”
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What is clear is that we have a generation of angry young men. Have you ever stopped to listen to them conversing? Even simple conversations are loud and aggressive. It seems that they feel he that shouts the loudest and is the most aggressive, gets his point across the best.
The other thing I have noticed is that the violence does not take into account risk to third parties. So I pelt some rocks or bullets and who get hit get hit. This shows a disregard for the whole society not just the victim they were aiming for. Look at the savage attack by those hooligans against the tourist outside Savvy. To say that was obsessive violence against one person would be an understatement.
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@John A
Is the issue located to young people or is it a general intolerance by the general public.
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@ David
The anger issue seems to be more noticeable in the 25 and under age group in my view. Even their facial expressions are angry. However I was told by one guy “daddy this is how you got to walk de Street.”
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@John A
We have to separate the types of intolerance in people. Older people blow the horns and younger people resort to fighting. Shooting etc.
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Bajans seem to care as little about the murders at home as they do about the ongoing genocide in Gaza and the criminal violations of the ceasefires in Lebanon and Gaza by the Zionists and their sponsors.
As the world moves unalterably towards a seeming deep depression, not a recession, not merely stagflation, but we’ve already entered the space where the forces are well-aligned.
Gasoline prices are now up to 5.50 and 6.00 dollars a gallon in the USA. Supply chains have been emptied. America and its Zionist colony find it impossible to accept their resounding defeat by Iran. And Iran confronts an existential crisis as determined by Drumpf and Netanyahu. Even as Iran discolsed today that the circus of indirect peace talks had to be abandoned. This is what happens once one is forced to deal with a Devil who is both deranged and senile.
There are reports in media today that Iran will test a nuclear weapon. And if it does, this would represents a violation of a moral precept which says that innocent people, non-combatants, are never to be harmed in war. The only problem with this is that none of Iran’s enemies recognize this rule of war.
We are expecting the trigger for the coming great depression sometime over the coming days as Drumpf and Netanyahu try again to stach a victory from the jaws of consecutive defeats by Iran. Even with another escalatory cycle, it’s just matter of days now before the shit his the fan.
We wonder if anybody in Bridgetown is planning for the even higher murder rate as a direct consequence of severe financial hardship. Or do weee merely intend to see the murder rate skyrocket and then suggest talking about it will be helpful.
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Nobody seems to be even trying to prepare for what’s ahead. Nobody seems to be taking it seriously at all, at all, at all.
But to say that Bajans don’t care is incorrect. Bajans expected madness from Trump. Most of them just got tired of talking about it. I have a friend that threatens to put the phone down in my ears if I mention his name. They care but they feel helpless. And so they have resolved to do what Bajans of today do best — get up every day and just try to survive it with as little effort as possible, not even to think about it, because that too takes energy.
And so it is with the local murders as well.
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Correct Donna, through all the adversity the prime objective is to get on with our lives. It is an imperfect world.
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Another senseless killing.
https://nationnews.com/2026/06/04/one-dead-three-injured-in-chapman-lane-shooting/
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The Barbados Police Service needs to be visible in the low income housing areas like Chapman Lane according to Iston Bull.
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Perhaps we should just conscript each unemployed youth into the army /police force and take control of their lives. that way, we can have lawmen and women in every community…
Since our misguided eddykashun leaders have taken the idiotic stance to outlaw corporal punishment for children, ..to let them do as they like without consequences, …dress as they like, …talk as they like, …and act as they like…
It must be becoming clearer now to the CLOWNS, that it makes MUCH MORE SENSE to bend a tree when it is a tender branch – than it does to wait until it is a grown stump.Do you think that the jokers realize yet, …that it is BETTER to cut a little vagabond’s ass at age nine and ten, …than it is for police to have to shoot him at nineteen…
Wunna mind Pacha …and ignore the WISE guidance provided in the BOOK OF LIFE…
…and then play that wunna surprised at the shiite outcomes.Our UN-eddykated fore-parents had MUCH MORE sense that we are showing…
What a curse!
What blindness!! -
Killer jailed for life
Justice Greaves urges Barbadians to speak up about gang members
By Sandra Downes In sentencing a murderer to life and his accomplice to a long stretch in prison, Justice Carlisle Greaves said the case was one that should propel Barbadians to speak up.
The High Court judge, in urging Barbadians to speak up, warned that unless they did so, they could end up like deceased teenager Michael Edwards, who was gunned down in a case of mistaken identity.
The judge told Barbadians who knew that their relatives were involved in gangs to “put them out” and those with information about a crime to “speak up”.
Justice Greaves was ordering Livardo Rogelio Hinds, 35, of Durants, Lodge Road, Christ Church, to spend life in prison with a tariff of 45 years before he can be released and the second man, Kemar Glenville Stoute, 37, of Block 3E Bottom Close, Wildey, St Michael, to 25 years.
Senate debate
“The State should maintain an interest for life, in keeping such persons under their supervision,” the judge said, adding that should be the case, especially since it was “a tit-for-tat gang killing”.
The sentencing yesterday also coincided with debate taking place in the Senate on the Criminal Gangs (Prevention And Control) Bill, 2026.
Edwards was shot nine years ago outside his home and evidence in the trial suggested that the teen, who was killed on February 2, 2017, was not a gang member, nor was he associated with any of them. It was a case of mistaken identity.
Describing it as a case which should drive each Barbadian to take “gang behaviour seriously”, the judge said “we cannot escape by recoiling or residing in the philosophy that it is them and not us . . . . It is the gangsters . . . the criminals . . . killing one another . . . And we do not speak up when we are supposed to, or give evidence in court.
“If you have gun dealers and gang members among you, put them from your premises! Report them!” he said.
‘Saving your own life’
“It should not matter whether the culprit is your brother, sister, son, father, friend, or friend of a friend – you may be saving your own life,” he emphasised.
The judicial officer went on to say “silence, arrogance, recalcitrant – or to use a Bajan term, don’t careishness . . . only emboldens and enables the gangsters and illegal firearm carriers in this country to do what they do”.
“It is only a matter of time before it is an innocent you,” Justice Greaves warned.
“Based on the evidence, this case seems to have come out of the development of a gang culture in this country,” the judge stated, adding that it led “in significant part to the death of Michael Edwards”.
“An innocent victim taking a relaxing moment on his own compound, when he was, unfortunately, gunned down,” Justice Greaves remarked.
The evidence, he said, suggested that the intention “was to kill a person associated with a rival gang”.
While Hinds will spend 45 years before he can be considered for release, the judge told Stoute that he was “lucky” to be found guilty of manslaughter because he must have known when he went to Sargeants Village with a gun that day that he was either “going to kill or commit serious bodily harm”.
Defence attorneys Saffiya Moore and Michael Rivera appeared on behalf of Hinds, while Senior Counsel Angella Mitchell-Gittens represented Stoute.
Appearing for the prosecution was Acting Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions Krystal Delaney, in association with Acting Senior State Counsel Anastasia McMeo Boyce.
Justice Carlisle Greaves yesterday sentenced one man to life in prison for murder with a tariff of 45 years before he can be released, and his accomplice to 20 years behind bars, for manslaughter in the same killing.
Livardo Rogelio Hinds, 35, of Durants, Lodge Road, Christ Church, and Kemar Glenville Stoute, 37, of Block 3E Bottom Close, Wildey, St Michael, were jailed yesterday for killing 18-year-old Michael Edwards on February 2, 2017. Edwards, formerly of Sargeant Village, Christ Church, was shot in the chest, right thigh and lower jaw in a case of mistaken identity.
A jury found Hinds guilty of murder in absentia on March 13 this year and after deductions for time spent on remand and delay in hearing the matter, Hinds will spend 37 calender years in prison while Stoute, convicted of manslaughter, will spend 20 years.
Defence attorneys Safiya Moore and Michael Rivera represented Hinds, while Senior Counsel Angella Mitchell-Gittens represented Stoute.
Appearing for the prosecution was acting Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions Krystal Delaney, in association with acting Senior State Counsel, Anastasia McMeo Boyce.
Prosecutor Delaney said Edwards was shot because the pair believed he was seen with a member of another gang. However, Edwards was never associated with a gang and was not the intended target. Since both men went to Sergeant Village that day armed in advance with guns, were prepared to use their firearms, and the fact that eight cartridges were retrieved by police, Delaney described it as “a callous and cold blooded murder”. “The deceased had no involvement with either man,” she stated, adding nevertheless he was shot in the face, shoulders, had a shattered jaw and even after he fell, one accused continued shooting him.
She also mentioned the impact of Edwards’ death on his family, who believed that his grandmother died grieving over his killing.
The prosecutor suggested a 35 to 40- year starting point was appropriate for Hinds, while a 15 to 25-year term of imprisonment was recommended for Stoute.
Although Hinds had already been sentenced for them, the judge was asked to consider his previous convictions of disposal of a body in 2021 and possession of a gun and 25 bullets last year, which were committed after the murder. She also noted that Hinds was at a high risk of re-offending and given those circumstances, she suggested a life sentence with a tariff of at least 45 years.
Stoute, she said, had no relevant previous convictions and had a generally favourable presentencing report, although the prosecutor noted he had admitted to being part of two gangs.
During her submissions, attorney Safiya Moore said the custodial threshold had been passed and “regrettably, I must concede that I’ve been hard pressed to find mitigating factors in relation to this offence”. This she said, was particularly since her client Hinds had been forearmed, had released multiple shots and the deceased “was just an innocent person who happened to be at the location”.
Referring to Hinds as a promising athlete who competed for Barbados as a teenager, she admitted that he had made negative associations, never gained certification or training at or since secondary school and had previous convictions. Moore felt that having a very young mother might also have impacted Hinds. However, she urged the court to consider that he had already paid his debt to society in relation to his priors.
During her submissions on behalf of Stoute, Mitchell-Gittens stated that she too could find no mitigating factors regarding the offence committed, but the aggravating factors included premeditation, being armed in advance, using a firearm and doing so in a public place “which had persons running,” as well as the trauma those persons would have felt.
On the other hand, his presentencing report suggested he had a good relationship with his family and community, and in particular his employer – who spoke highly of him and considered him an excellent employee whom he would re-employ if given the opportunity. While on bail Stoute did not find himself in any further trouble but continued to work two jobs. Additionally, he was considered as having a moderate risk of reoffending.
When it was their turn to address the court, both men used very few words. Hinds insisted he has “been found guilty of a crime I did not commit,” while his colleague Stoute said “I would like to give condolences to Mr. Edwards family and I maintain my innocence”.
Justice Greaves said he found little to no variance between the prosecution’s and the defence’s sentencing suggestions, and therefore adopted them.
Source: Nation
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@Hants
All is well, the tourists are coming and we have had 20 plus quarters of growth. Let not your heart be troubled.
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A light bulb moment.
AG: Bill alone won’t fix crime
Barbadians should not expect the proposed Criminal Gangs (Prevention and Control) Bill to be a magic bullet against crime, Attorney General Wilfred Abrahams said Friday as he outlined a wider strategy aimed at steering vulnerable young people away from gangs.
Contributing to debate in the Senate on the antigang legislation, Abrahams argued that while the bill represented an important weapon in the fight against organised crime, lasting success would depend on a combination of law enforcement, prevention and social intervention.
“This is but one tool in the arsenal to fight crime,” he said.
The Attorney General maintained that legislation by itself could not solve the social conditions that often fuel criminal activity and gang recruitment.
Instead, he said Government’s approach sought to combine tough laws with programmes designed to create opportunities for young people who might otherwise become vulnerable to gang influence.
Abrahams pointed to several initiatives already operating across the island, including the National Peace Programme, the Chapman Lane Challenge, Youth Advance Corps, the One Family programme and support for faith-based organisations.
According to him, these initiatives formed part of a broader strategy aimed at preventing young people from entering criminal lifestyles in the first place.
The Attorney General defended the proposed legislation against criticism that it could unfairly target ordinary citizens.
He stressed that simply living in a particular community or associating with certain individuals would not automatically make someone a gang member under the law.
Abrahams explained that the legislation clearly defined what constitutes a gang and established thresholds that investigators would have to satisfy before charges could be brought.
“If you happen to hang out with your friends on a corner and you don’t do anything illegal, this does not apply to you,” he said.
He also noted that the legislation distinguishes between ordinary gang members and gang leaders, with significantly tougher penalties applying to those who organise and direct criminal enterprises.
The Attorney General said lawmakers had carefully examined anti-gang legislation from other jurisdictions while drafting the bill and had adjusted several provisions following consultations with legal professionals and stakeholders.
Disrupting gang structures
Among the objectives of the legislation, he said, was disrupting gang structures before they became more deeply entrenched in Barbadian society.
Abrahams argued that the severity of the penalties reflected the seriousness of the threat posed by organised criminal activity.
He noted that many offences contained mandatory minimum prison sentences, creating what he described as a strong deterrent against gang involvement.
The Attorney General also rejected suggestions that Government had focused solely on punitive measures.
Instead, he said significant resources had been invested in programmes designed to support vulnerable communities and create alternatives for young people at risk of becoming involved in criminal activity.
He stressed that gangs often recruit from environments where opportunities are limited and where young people feel disconnected from mainstream society.
As a result, Government’s anti-crime strategy seeks to create pathways into education, skills training, employment and entrepreneurship.
The Attorney General said Barbados could not afford to wait until gang activity became fully entrenched before taking action.
The proposed legislation, he argued, would allow authorities to intervene earlier, prosecute gang leaders more effectively and disrupt criminal organisations before they gained further influence.
At the same time, he insisted that success would ultimately depend on the combined efforts of Government agencies, communities, churches, youth organisations and families.
“This is not just about locking people up,” he said. “It is about preventing young people from joining gangs in the first place.”
Abrahams maintained that while the legislation would provide important new powers to police and prosecutors, the wider objective remained protecting communities and reducing the conditions that allow gangs to flourish. (CLM)
Source: Nation
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