( 4UMF NEWS ) Captain Barkey’s Killer Commits Suicide:
The jealous ex-boyfriend suspected of killing his ex-girlfriend and her reggae-singer lover Captain Barkey at a Bronx motel has committed suicide in Florida, a city law enforcement said Wednesday.
The NYPD was notified that Joseph Kernizan, 42, took his own life just before 11 p.m. Tuesday in Miami-Dade, the source said.
Kernizan allegedly gunned down his ex, Tracy Bennett, 38, and popular reggae singer Wayne Hamilton, 50, outside the Holiday Motel about 3:15 a.m. on Saturday.
Kernizan, described as 5-feet-5 and 220 pounds, was the father of Bennett’s two younger children and was “obsessed” with her, growing enraged when she tried to break away and sought an order of protection against him, a friend of hers told the Daily News.
Kernizan was arrested in August after allegedly violating a protection order at the Elmont, L.I., home he and Bennett shared, court records show.
The married Hamilton, whose wife at home in Milwaukee did not know about his relationship with Bennett, also may have baited his alleged killer in a 2010 song called “Nah Lef Joe.” A friend of Bennett’s told The News the song was about Bennett and Kernizan, although other followers of the reggae/dancehall genre say it may have been about cheating in general.
In a photo of Hamilton and Bennett taken in May at Mingles Cafe in the Bronx, he was decked out in a black suit and had his arm around her. Bennett wore a short purple, black and silver dress and pumps.
Friends said the pair secretly dated for five years.
Sources, including Hamilton’s longtime music partner David (Wickerman) Taylor, said Hamilton and Kernizan had feuded in the past when Hamilton came to New York to play shows. Wickerman said Kernizan once crashed a car into a vehicle carrying Hamilton and Bennett.
“Everyone knew this was a bad situation,” said one New York-based reggae deejay, who did not wish to be identified. “People knew that this was going to end badly.”
