BETTER DETAILS

Police on Sunday were hunting for a 42-year-old man who is accused of fatally shooting his ex-girlfriend and a celebrated reggae artist as the two were checking out of a Bronx motel along the New England Thruway.

Joseph Kernizan was allegedly waiting in the parking lot of the Holiday Motel shortly after 3 a.m. Saturday morning as Tracy Bennett and Wayne Hamilton were getting into a car, a law-enforcement official said.

Ms. Bennett, 38, and the suspect have two children and had been living together on Long Island, a law-enforcement official said. She had taken out an order of protection against Mr. Kernizan in August.

According to surveillance video recovered at the scene, Ms. Bennett and Mr. Hamilton were getting into her white sedan when the suspect blocked it with his car, the official said. Mr. Kernizan then allegedly got out of the car with a gun and fired two shots at the white sedan, the official said.

As Mr. Hamilton, 50, was trying to escape, the camera shows Mr. Kernizan allegedly chasing him down a small walkway firing several shots in his direction, striking him in the torso, the official said.

The camera then shows Mr. Kernizan returning to the parking lot and allegedly shooting Ms. Bennett once in the face, the official said. After she fell to the ground, he allegedly stood over her and continued shooting, striking her several times in the head, face, back and chest.

Mr. Kernizan then returned to Mr. Hamilton, who can be seen crawling away, and fired at him several more times, striking him in the head, before fleeing, the official said. He was last seen driving southbound on the thruway.

Police on Sunday described Mr. Kernizan as 5-foot-5 and 220 pounds. He has an extensive criminal record including robbery, assault and criminal firearms possession.

Mr. Hamilton, whose stage name is “Captain Barkey,” had been part of the Jamaican reggae scene since the late 1980s, said Ralston Barrett, who served as his manager from 1999 to 2002.

Mr. Hamilton, who lives in Milwaukee, had played a show in the city earlier that night.

He got his break in the late 1990s with the recording of “Go Go Wine,” which would go on to be a chart hit.

He followed with a handful of other hits including “Bun Fi Bun,” making him a mainstay on the circuit into the early part of the century.

“He was an all-in-all good guy, a very humorous guy,” Mr. Barrett said. “His music was kind of different. He did more light-hearted topics.”

“It’s unbelievable. I still can’t believe it,” Mr. Barrett said.
http://www.hmipix.com/police-explains-how-the-suspect-joseph-kernizan-aka-country-killed-the-victims-from-the-surveillance-camera-gruesome/