Zion boys laid to rest

Richard Morais, Gleaner Writer

FALMOUTH, Trelawny

Eleven-year-old Alex Brown and seven-year-old Jahvonie Anthony Brown, the two Trelawny boys whose controversial death led to a mob killing in their home district of Zion in Trelawny, were buried on Sunday after a sombre funeral in Falmouth.

While an official autopsy stated that the boys, whose bodies were fished out of the Martha Brae River on Thursday, September 20, drowned, suspicious family members remain resolute in their belief that the boys were buggered and then tossed into the river, where they died.

In the aftermath of the discovery of the bodies, a mob stormed a home, where, they claim, a man with intimate knowledge of the boys' death lived. The man was not found, but a relative, 42-year-old Donovan Hazley, was chopped to death. A female relative was also seriously injured and the house set on fire.

On Sunday, hundreds of persons, led by Falmouth's mayor, Councillor Garth Wilkinson; Custos Rotulorum of Trelawny, Paul Muschett; Councillor Phillip Service; and Laurie Williams, the commissioner of the Jamaica Fire Brigade, flocked the Falmouth Seventh-day Adventist Church, where the two youngsters were eulogised as gifted despite still being very young at the time of their death.

In his moving sermon, pastor Garth Geddes bemoaned the rampant ungodliness, which he said is crippling the society and challenged the congregation to get back on the path of righteousness.

"While a postmortem is a private issue, it would be good if in this instance, the results could be made public in their entirety because that could end the speculation of foul play," said a mourner. "Also, we believe the police's investigation was done too hastily. We don't know if any effort was made to determine if the drowning was not a cover-up to hide molestation."

In honouring the memory of the boys, the Falmouth All-Age School, where Alex was a grade-six student, performed a poem. Hague Primary School, where Jahvonie was a grade one-student, contributed a song.