Alleged gang leader Romaine ‘Forty Ball’ Murray taken out by police

According to the Jamaica Observer, an alleged high-ranking member of the Kings Valley gang was fatally shot during a police operation in Westmoreland.

A man, identified as 28-year-old Romaine Murray, otherwise called Bartez or Forty Ball was killed by security forces during an early morning operation in Westmoreland on Wednesday. A senior member of police suggested Romaine Murray to be a member of the notorious Kings Valley Gang and the Speculation Gang.

Murray has been identified by police as a person of interest in the May 8, 2025 abduction of a teacher in Hanover, reportedly orchestrating the crime and providing firearms. The teacher was abducted from her vehicle by three armed men around 6:00 am in Pell River. Police acted on intelligence that day, leading to a confrontation at a location where the woman was held, resulting in two abductors being fatally shot while a third escaped. Two 9mm pistols were seized at the scene.

The deceased individuals, 21-year-old Kevin “Josh” Gordon and 27-year-old Christopher “Bubba” Williams from Savanna-la-Mar, Westmoreland, were identified, with Gordon previously facing court for a September 2023 murder and reporting to police under bail conditions.

“Murray was the most-trusted trigger man in the Kings Valley Gang and one who dealt with the logistics when they were going on many of their criminal acts. He was Lukie’s man on the ground, since the gang leader was convicted, and someone we saw as a major violence producer,” one police source told the Observer.

“In addition to the murder he was charged for, we have info linking him to at least four more murders and several shootings, but the cases against him were not yet ready for charges to be laid,” added the source.

According to law enforcement authorities, members of a security forces unit were conducting a search warrant in the Jerusalem Mountain area of Grange Hill shortly after 5:30 a.m. when an individual identified as Murray exited the premises while brandishing a firearm. The police report that he aimed the weapon at them, which led to them discharging their firearms, resulting in his injury. He was subsequently transported to Savanna-la-Mar Public General Hospital, where he was pronounced deceased.

A firearm was reportedly recovered at the scene, and the Independent Commission of Investigations (Indecom) has indicated that it is conducting an inquiry into the matter. Sources from the Jamaica Observer identify Murray, a resident of Top Lincoln and Jerusalem Mountain in Grange Hill, as a prominent operative within the Kings Valley gang, functioning under the direction of incarcerated gang leader Derval “Lukie” Williams. Additionally, he was associated with the Speculation Gang.

Police intelligence has connected both gangs to violent crimes in western Jamaica, including murders and kidnappings. Murray, facing court for the 2024 murder of Devantae “Wacky” Brown, was granted bail with the condition of reporting to the Savanna-la-Mar Police Station twice a week.