By Omar Anderson, Staff Reporter
THE MOTHER of one of the seven young men killed by the police in Braeton, St. Catherine on March 14, last year, testified yesterday how she heard one of them begging for his life just before he was shot.
Sylvia Grodget-Wilson, mother of 20-year-old Tamayo Wilson, under examination by Assistant Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions Herbie McKenzie, testified at the Coroner's Inquest that she woke up at about 5 a.m. the day and had devotion. Ten minutes later, she said she was on her way to the bathroom to get ready for work when a church sister telephoned her.
Mrs. Grodget-Wilson said while she was still on the 'phone, she heard gunshots which sounded like they were coming from a nearby playfield. She said her church sister asked her what it was and Mrs. Grodget-Wilson replied it sounded like gunshots. She said shortly after there was another burst of gunshots.
She testified at the Spanish Town Resident Magistrate's Court that she showered then got dressed to leave but waited until the shooting had died down and the place was lit. At about 6 a.m., she said her son Thorin told her a man, in his 30s, was at the gate. Mrs. Grodget-Wilson said she went to him and he told her: "Mummy, yu son dead."
She said two church sisters later joined her and along with the man they all went to Fifth Seal Way at about 6:05 a.m. She said police forensic tapes cordoned off the house, preventing her from going closer. But while standing in front of the house at about 6:12 p.m., she said she heard one of the young men crying: "lawd, lawd, nuh kill me, see me hol' up me hands deh." Mrs. Grodget-Wilson said she then heard a police telling the person to shut up his mouth then he (the policeman) cursed. She said she then heard explosions.
Shortly after, she said two policemen came out of the house with a man, each of them holding his hands and feet. She said a jeep was driven near the house to collect the man the police had taken from the house.
Mrs. Grodget-Wilson said she later spoke with Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Reneto Adams who told her 15 men were in the house but several of them had escaped. She said he also told her to visit Spanish Town Hospital in St. Catherine where doctors were treating her son.
She said when she visited the hospital a nurse told her the seven men had died and had been taken to the morgue. She said she visited Young's Funeral Home in Spanish Town where she identified her son lying on top of the six other bodies. She testified that she recognised three of the dead persons as Tamayo's friends. She said she later fainted.
Earlier, Mrs. Grodget-Wilson told the court Tamayo graduated from Excelsior High School five years ago during which time he never worked. She said he wasn't attending school when he was killed. She told the court that a week and a half before her son was killed, he and his dad had a fuss over money, which caused him to sleep out several nights.
She said Tamayo would, however, come home to shower and have dinner then leave again when she was there. She said during the time he never slept at the house, whenever she had seen him in the days, she asked him where he had been sleeping, but he never responded.
The Inquest continues today with attorney-at-law Carolyn Reid cross-examining Mrs. Grodget-Wilson. Ms. Reid, along with attorneys-at-law Ian Ramsay, Q.C., and Oswest Senior-Smith, are representing the police.
Attorney-at-law Richard Rowe is representing the Wilson family.
The Coroner is RM Lorna Errar-Gayle.
In March, about 50 members of the police force led by SSP Adams, went to Fifth Seal Way. They said that men in the house fired on them as they approached and they fired back, killing Andre Virgo, 20, Wilson, Curtis Smith, 20; Lancebert Clarke, 19; Dane Whyte, 19; and Ronald Beckford, 15; and 17-year-old Christopher Grant.
