O’Brien urges women to break silence on intimate partner violence
Heather Hodgson Moyston eulogised as caring, dedicated, loyal
Published:Saturday | October 14, 2023 | 12:07 AMChristopher Serju/Senior Gleaner Writer
Denis O'Brien used his tribute to the late Digicel Jamaica Group Administration Manager Heather Annella Hodgson Moyston, on Thursday to appeal to women who are in abusive relationships to break the silence and seek help.
Speaking at the thanksgiving service for Hodgson Moyston at the Fellowship Tabernacle in Kingston 20, the Digicel chairman said, “She represented everything that was great about Jamaica. She was simply unflappable and had a wonderful manner with the people she worked.”
Every speaker described the former Digicel executive, who had been with the company for nearly 20 years and one of its longest-serving employees, as the consummate professional, noting that she was always early on the job and often the last to leave.
The 59-year-old Hodgson Moyston died in a murder-suicide on August 5. Her 41-year-old husband Wesley Moyston, an ex-firefighter, shot himself dead after killing his wife.
Digicel CEO Oliver Coughlan, who worked with Hodgson Moyston over the past three and a half years since he joined the company, said that although she did not always like change and the company underwent a lot of changes over that time, the group administrator still shone brightly.
INTERESTING ENCOUNTER
“Heather has never let any of us down. She was the most amazing person to work with,” Coughlan said before recounting an interesting encounter they had on his first day on the job in Jamaica.
He asked her for a cup of coffee and she responded in the affirmative.
More than two hours later, he again requested the coffee and again heard, “Yeah, man.”
However, it wasn't until three months later that Coughlan found out the reason she denied him the cup of coffee and her answer was spot on.
“I didn't get it,” he reminded her. “She said, 'Because you were speaking too fast and you were walking too fast and the last thing you really needed was a cup of coffee',” the Digicel CEO recalled.
“She left nothing to chance. Her attention to detail was spectacular and, as a result of that, she made our lives that much happier. She was loyal, she was dedicated, she was honest,” her former boss declared.
“Heather will always be the truest example of active love. Always looking out for others,” was how Digicel Jamaica Foundation Chairperson Jean Lowrie-Chin summed up her former colleague.
However, for all these excellent on-the-job qualities that earned the respect of her peers, Hodgson Moyston was hurting in private, and it all came to a horrifying end on the night of Saturday, August 5 while driving with her husband along Windward Road in St Andrew.
Upon reaching the intersection with Mountain View Avenue at about 9:10 p.m., the vehicle stopped at the traffic light after which explosions were heard.
When the police were summoned, the couple was found slumped inside. Hodgson Moyston, who was the driver, had a gunshot wound to the left side of her head. Her husband, who was seated in the front passenger seat, also had a gunshot wound to the head. Both were confirmed dead at the Kingston Public Hospital.
“We now know that Heather suffered in her private life in an abusive relationship and I am sorry if this offends some people by me saying this, but in Heather's memory, I hope that other women will come forward and seek the help that is available to them,” O'Brien said in an apparent break from his prepared text.
The statement was met with sustained applause.