Murdered jockey was kind-hearted

Just hours before his death, Caymanas Racing posted a promotional video asking three jockeys, including Oneil Mullings, what would be his perfect entrance song - he immediately choose the gospel track Oh Happy Day.

But Sunday was anything but a happy day for Mullings or his loved ones, as one of two gunmen pumped two bullets into his head, killing him. The 49-year-old was gunned down near his home in Waterhouse, St Andrew, following what is alleged to be a bitter dispute with two brothers. The police have since reported that Samuel Brown, 37, of a Kingston 11 address is wanted for murder. He has been urged to turn himself in to the Hunts Bay police. The police report that Mullings was on Thompson View Avenue, Kingston 11, where he lived, when he was approached by a man armed with a firearm. The gunman opened fire, hitting Mullings in the head.

When THE STAR visited the community yesterday, Mullings' relatives sat just footsteps away from where he was murdered. A relative told the news team that an argument developed after one of the two brothers demanded that Mullings pay him for a job that he was not employed to do. She stated that Mullings had hired and paid the other brother in full.

"Yesterday (Sunday) mi hear 'My yute yuh nah give mi mi money?' and mi look out and mi say the youth have a machete in his hand and Oneil out there. Oneil keep on a tell him that him never give him any work and he should go to him brother and him even take him phone out him pocket and tell him to talk to him brother; him refuse. Mi and the other neighbour come out and quash it down. Oneil sit down and him all forget about the argument. Him say the youth puff him chest but him forgive him because a God him a serve," she said.

The woman said they all believed the dispute was behind them but later in the afternoon, the nightmare occurred.

"All of we sit down outside. Mi see when the youth dem go up and down but mi nah take it as nutten, but all of a sudden mi just see when one of them haul out a shine gun in front a everybody and just 'blow blow' inna the man head. When mi run to him and hold him mi hand full a blood. It was so quick, it was unbelievable and nobody never think say something like this would happen," the woman said.

She described the deceased sportsman as hard-working and kind-hearted.

"Oneil was a breadwinner and one of the most genuine man mi never know. Him born April 1 and people really take him for fool because he was just so kind. If him a buy a beer, him nah buy one. Come on this can't good. Dem kill the man and leave him six kids without a father. He was a provider and a good father and when mi hear him little son say him father gone left him and don't even give him a hug, it pain mi heart," the woman said.

Supreme Ventures Racing and Entertainment Limited, operators of Caymanas Park, expressed shock and sadness at the tragedy. In a release, the entity said that Mullings, who began his riding career in 2002, was a veteran of the sport with 415 career wins.

"His dedication and skill in the saddle made him a respected figure among his peers and in Jamaica's racing community," the entity said.