By KEILE CAMPBELL

Tribune Staff Reporter

kcampbell@tribunemedia.net

Police linked Duran “Monster” Neely to the Pinewood Gardens–based Dirty South gang for more than a decade - but case after case brought against him collapsed in court.

In 2014, police said they shot him after he allegedly pointed a firearm at officers during a traffic stop. His mother disputed that account, telling The Tribune he had been unjustly targeted.

In November 2015, Neely and several others, including relatives, were charged under newly-amended anti-gang laws carrying sentences of up to 20 years. Justice Bernard Turner later ruled the amendment had not been properly gazetted, and prosecutors withdrew the charges the following month.

Neely was arrested twice more in December 2015 and February 2016 but released without charge. He later sued the state, and in 2023, Chief Justice Sir Ian Winder awarded him $26,000 in damages after finding the detentions unlawful. The matter was initially heard in March 2021. His lawyer in that case was Wayne Munroe, who is now the Minister of National Security.

Neely was also named as a co-defendant in the high-profile prosecution of Jahmaro Edgecombe, accused of murdering police informant Alwayne McKenzie in 2012. Justice Gregory Hilton directed the jury to acquit Neely in 2019, saying the evidence was insufficient. Edgecombe was convicted but later won an appeal.

Despite repeated public identification by police as a gang leader, Neely did not hold a murder conviction. Court records show Inspector Ricardo Hanna once suggested under cross-examination that Neely “might have had some kind of insider,” noting he always seemed to be waiting outside his home with a blanket when officers arrived.