Clarendon woman's fear: cops after my son
Published:Tuesday | July 10, 2012 | 12:00 AM
Daviot Kelly, Staff Reporter
Even though her son Omar Stewart is alive, Fay Madho-Stewart is still a concerned woman.
She fears that Omar, who was feared dead after a confrontation with police early Sunday morning, may be a target for corrupt members of the force.
"Me no want nuh police come kill him," she said yesterday at her home in Jacob Hut, Clarendon. "I'm worried about him."
Like her mother, Stewart's sister Pauline Hughes is fearful for her brother's life.
"My impression is that they (police) were going to shoot him because they 'cocked' the weapons," she said. "But the water is deep so they couldn't see him."
Resurfaced on sunday
Stewart went missing on Sunday, some time after 2 a.m., after he was allegedly pushed by a policeman into a gully that runs adjacent to the yard where he was playing music at a 'round-robin'. Family members and residents feared the worst after fire brigade personnel called off their search soon after the incident due to poor lighting and the heavy vegetation in the area. But sometime after 3 p.m. on Sunday, Madho-Stewart received a call.
"When the phone rang, I said, 'I don't know this number'," she recalled. But she answered anyway to hear a man who didn't give his name, explaining that Omar had surfaced near his home, told him who he was and gave him her number. Midway through the call, she said her phone battery died but after Omar helped the Good Samaritan contact another family member who passed on the message, Madho-Stewart said she was able to contact her son. By Sunday afternoon, Omar was back home.
"Him have life," she smiled gratefully on her verandah yesterday. Attempts by The Gleaner to contact Omar proved futile as he had left home earlier Monday morning. But late yesterday, his mother said he had given a statement to the Independent Commission of Investigations (INDECOM) in the afternoon.
Kahmile Reid, senior public relations officer at INDECOM, confirmed the body had started its investigations.
Madho-Stewart, who has six other boys and two girls, said this was just the latest in what she called a string of bad luck that seems to be following Omar.
"You see that son, I've gone through a lot with him," she said with a sigh. "But is not always his own fault. Is like him just salt."