WHO IS TRAVIS ELLIS?
Travis Ellis, the main suspect in the murder of journalist Barbara Gayle, worked as an assistant to a gardener who operated in the Caymanas Country Club Estates communities.
Police detectives have confirmed that the main suspect in the murder of veteran journalist Barbara Gayle was held on Wednesday evening, hours after he abandoned her motor car as law enforcers tightened their dragnet around him. The suspect was apprehended in heavy foliage near the section of St Catherine where he had ditched the vehicle, licence plate number BG 777, and escaped Wednesday morning.
Gayle was stabbed multiple times in the neck and was believed to have been hit in her head with a pot by the killer. The pot was said to have been found on Gayle’s bed.
A few weeks ago, Ellis, who is reportedly in his 20s, collected a $10,000 sum for gardening services on behalf of his employer, and absconded with the money. His employer, who was grilled for hours yesterday by cops, had not filed an official police report. It is understood that the gardener had mentioned that the man was no longer in his employment to security guards in the community.
Ellis, who grew up in a nearby lane in the Caymanas Bay community, is familiar with the area, and had been suspected of jumping the perimeter wall on more than one occasion and was spotted on security footage attempting to break into a house in an adjoining block.
Ellis’ father, Phil Ellis, described as a ‘nice man’, was a well-known bus conductor who died of cancer a few years ago. He reportedly has relatives in both the Caymanas Bay and the ‘Gulf’ community in Gregory Park, St. Catherine.
GULF RESIDENT BEAT ELLIS AFTER LEARNING OF HIS DARK DEED
Ellis reportedly told his babymother that he was doing ‘security work’ in Kingston after leaving his previous gardening job.
Residents of ‘Gulf’, an informal settlement in Gregory Park, said that Travis Ellis, the main suspect in the murder, was spotted driving Gayle’s Benz in the community. He offered several stories as to how he came to be in possession of the vehicle, explaining to some residents that he had rented the vehicle, while he told others that his scammer uncle had bought him the vehicle.
After the residents of ‘Gulf’ discovered that Ellis was lying, men from the community reportedly beat him and fired shots at him. Ellis then reportedly abandoned the vehicle and hid in the bushes in Grange Lane where he was found by cops.
