While many Jamaicans celebrated the New Year with family and friends, the sons of Livingston Roberts were listening to their father being robbed and killed by gunmen early yesterday morning.

Roberts, 62, also known as 'Starie', a taxi driver from Rasta Corner, Freetown, Clarendon, was also the first reported murder case in the island for the New Year. He was ambushed by thieves waiting outside his home.

According to police reports, shortly after 2:30 a.m., Roberts, who has been a taxi driver for eight years, came home and parked his car when he was accosted by the men, with knives and handguns, who demanded money.

His relatives who were in the house heard him crying for help and made attempts to assist him but were sent back in by his attackers. Shortly after, explosions were heard.

"I heard when the car drove up and he closed the door, then I heard him saying 'let me give it to unnuh no'. One of the men then forced entry into the house and fist me in the face and told me to get flat; so I cooperate by getting under the bed. He did not see my other brother because he was already under the bed. He demanded money and took my phone," one of the sons said.

"As I was under the bed, I heard a shot and my father crying for murder. I then heard like my father was running and I heard two more shots. We left the house and hide in the bushes, when they were gone, until morning because we were afraid that they would come back for us," he added.

Several stab wounds

Four hours after the attack, residents found Roberts on a dirt road about eight feet from his gate lying in a pool *lo**. The police, who were summoned, inspected the body and found several stab wounds. The scene was processed and the body removed to the morgue. The May Pen police are investigating.

The sons say that although they wanted to call for help during the incident, they were barred from doing so. "We could not make a call to the police because they took the phone and no one from the community even made an attempt to call the police.''

In the meantime, the distraught sons are struggling to understand why their father, who they described as a humble, quiet and hard-working man, was killed even though he complied with the thieves' requests. "Daddy give dem everything him have and dem still kill him," one son said.

Roberts death was not the only killing since the start of the New Year. Michael Robinson, 31, of Angola was shot dead at 3:45 p.m. while playing dominoes at a shop. The Denham Town police are investigating.

The police in Cross Roads are also awaiting the results of a post-mortem to determine what killed Lance Pryce, 44, a vendor from Linstead, St. Catherine, whose body was found slumped over a chair in the Cross Roads Market.

There were also reports of a fatal shooting in St. James but the details were not available up to press time.