‘What they did to him was cruel’

Jody Perkins considered it odd when she did not get her regular wake-up phone call at 4 a.m. from her boyfriend, Brandon Small, on December 12.

Perkins told The Gleaner that subsequent calls to Small went unanswered, but she presumed he may have been occupied with work duties and so decided to give him time to ring her back.

That call never came.

Small, a 22-year old security guard, nicknamed ‘Pooh’, and colleague Lincoln Royal were killed in a late-night gun attack at the China Harbour Engineering Company facility in the Ferry industrial park along Mandela Highway on December 11.

Details have since emerged that the men may have been killed for thwarting oil theft at the plant earlier that month.

“Pooh does not deserve this. What they did to him was cruel,” Perkins said, as she battled to hold back tears after Saturday’s funeral.

“He was such a kind and loving person; someone you can call on for advice. He is always there.”

During the funeral at Red Hills Church of God of Prophecy in northern Clarendon, several young men cried openly for Small, lamenting the tragic nature of his death.

One man who wept bitterly while holding on to the coffin had to be escorted from the church.

Small, who was a member of the Red Hills Youth Group, was eulogised as a humble peacemaker who tried to steer his companions away from wrongdoing.

With swollen eyes, Wendy Whittick, Small’s mother, was despondent as tears ran down her face throughout the service.

Insisting that Small had refused to be accommodative of the alleged oil-stealing ring, relatives believe that his determination to do what was right may have led to his death.

Small’s cousin, Christine Chang, in a previous Gleaner interview, had said that the guard was allegedly being offered bribes to turn a blind eye to illicit activities at the facility.

Chang described Small’s death as symbolic of the reach of corruption and injustice.

“Jamaica justice system fail you. Di system is so corrupt. Unnu not even know wah unnu take from us,’’ said Chang in her tribute.

Prudence Simpson, Small’s cousin, told The Gleaner that the family’s grief was compounded because GYD Security, the company to which the guard was employed, had yet to reach out to relatives.

“There’s been no contact from the company, and I think that that is the hardest for them. They have not felt like the company that he dedicated his life to, and was such a stalwart for, has been there for them, so that has been very difficult.

“We don’t expect to have to go the legal route to get closure on matters of this type,’’ Simpson told The Gleaner.

But Dwayne McLeod, GYD Security’s manager, denied the allegations on Sunday.

“From day one we have been contacting the family. We even had representatives at the funeral yesterday (Saturday). Nothing like that, because in order to get certain things with Sagicor regarding the life insurance, they (the family) have to reach out to us, and we have to reach out to them,’’ McLeod said, adding that he empathised with the family.

Brandon’s aunt, Samantha Small, who read the eulogy, described him as humble and hard-working, crediting those attributes for gaining him promotion to the rank of supervisor.

“Pooh’s energy, vibes, and hard-working attitude also caused him to be chosen to go to St Lucia to work for six months. Upon his return to Jamaica in June last year, he went right back to work,” Samantha told the audience.

“When you have the ambition of always wanting to do good, achieve your goals, and make your family proud, there’s no stopping; and the only remedy is work, to get what you want to uplift yourself.’

Samantha also said her nephew, a Kellits High School alumnus, was an academic enthusiast who had attained certifications in several courses and was also enrolled at Caribbean Maritime University.

The family of 52-year-old Royal, the other security guard who was killed last December, also paid tribute to Small. Royal was buried on January 22.

His widow, Sharon Heslop-Royal, told The Gleaner that life since the December 11 ordeal has been difficult.

Heslop-Royal said both families had been channelling needed support to each other.

olivia.brown@gleanerjm.com