Teen bludgeoned to death yards from his home
Jeffrey Hannan, who was described by the garda leading the murder hunt as a “good young man”, died from serious wounds to the back of his head.
Mr Hannan, who had no links to crime, may have been assaulted after a row broke out at a house party.
Sources in Moyross last night said the dead man may have unwittingly got into the company of a notorious drug family who are known to get very violent when they have drink taken.
Superintendent Frank O’Brien, who is leading the investigation, ruled out any feud connection to the murder. Supt O’Brien said: “We haven’t established a motive yet. He was a good young man and had a good relationship with his family, of whom he was very supportive.”
Supt O’Brien said the dead man suffered serious trauma and there was nothing to indicate he was involved in any activity that would lead to such a fatal attack.
The body was discovered at about 10.30am in a narrow open strip of ground between houses in O’Malley Park and the boundary wall of the Galvone industrial estate, less than 100 yards from his home at Galtee Drive, O’Malley Park.
His devastated father, Alan, said: “I can’t understand it at all. For no reason. He was so quiet and would do anything to help any person. He only came back from England recently and didn’t go out and kept to himself. He was looking for a job doing bar work.”
Jeffrey’s mother, Geraldine, last saw her son alive at 1.50am. Mr Hannan said: “His mother looked out the back window and she saw him at a bonfire around the corner.”
The dead man had a one-year-old daughter, Nikita, with a former girlfriend, Gráinne.
Jeffrey’s father, Alan, who works at Southill house, said: “He idolised Nikita and he recently bought her a little bike.”
The Hannans have two other children, Emily, 22 and Alan, 14.
State pathologist Dr Marie Cassidy last night carried out a postmortem at the Mid-Western Regional Hospital.
Gardaí yesterday made door-to-door inquiries.
The area where the body was found is lit up by security lights located inside the industrial estate. It is believed the area is also monitored by CCTV and gardaí were accessing the cameras, which may give them vital clues.
This is the second murder in the Southill area this year. Patrick Coleman, 34, was brutally attacked as he walked to his home in John Carew Park on the night of September 2/3.
His throat was slashed with a broken bottle.
Although bleeding heavily, he managed to make it to his house and was found dead in his house after gardaí were alerted. A number of teenage boys have been arrested and questioned, but nobody has been charged.
Meanwhile, a 17-year-old youth was being questioned in Limerick yesterday after being found with a 9mm semi-automatic pistol and a quantity of ammunition in the Garryowen area of the city.
