‘Mi son a mi life’

The mother of Private Ejay Domville is hoping that today’s autopsy will begin to provide answers to the myriad questions swirling around in her head since the 20-year-old was shot dead while on duty in Denham Town, Kingston, last Friday.

“I’m not getting any full, concrete answers,” Calisha Reynolds told The Gleaner on Tuesday in her first interview since the tragedy on August 23.

The mother of two said that the young soldier, who was assigned to the zone of special operations (ZOSO) in the western Kingston-based community, was her life and breadwinner.

The past few days, she added, have been very difficult.

“I called my son about 11:30 Thursday night. I video-called him and the line open; it was very quiet. Mi say, ‘Papa, answer Mommy nuh. Mommy love yuh’, and mi a kiss him because is a routine thing … . Mi a say, ‘Why him nah answer and the line open?’” Reynolds said.

She disclosed that she retired to bed, but was awakened by a phone call about 1:30 a.m. from a friend, who said that she heard that a soldier had been shot in Denham Town and it sounded like it was Domville.

“Mi jump out of the bed and reach back a the shop. When I reach, a lot of soldiers came. They said ... ‘Your son died in the line of duty’ and [that] mi can’t see my son.

‘I CANNOT SEE HIM’

“I went to Tranquillity [Funeral Home] Friday or Saturday, and they said I cannot see him because he was already identified. I said, ‘Who identified my son?’ ... Today is Tuesday and I still don’t see my son,” a grieving Reynolds said, adding that the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) informed her that she would be picked up when it was time for the autopsy.

“Why I must wait until the autopsy?” Reynolds quizzed.

Reports are that about 1:25 a.m. on Friday, Domville was part of a team that was on foot patrol in Denham Town when he was shot in the vicinity of Charles Street and Chestnut Lane. He was later taken to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Though information remain sketchy, Reynolds has her own theory of what transpired and does not believe her son died in a shootout with criminals.

“I don’t believe there was a shooutout and nuh care how they tell mi my son die in the line of duty and ‘bout the system change,” Reynolds said.

“If it was a gunman kill mi son, why is it Denham Town don’t lock down properly? Why people not getting interrogated? ... People even keep candlelight [vigil] in Denham Town for my son, so how is war a gwan down there? Gunman kill my son and people keep candlelight?” she asked.

Reynolds said the JDF has also not been upfront with her, only providing words of sympathy and assigning someone to plan the soldier’s funeral.

“Mi nuh wah hear that. Mi nuh wah hear ‘bout no gun salute and fandangles and bury a [Up Park] Camp and dem responsible fi this and that. Mi nuh wah hear that. Mi wah know what happen to mi pickney,” she told The Gleaner.

The mother said she visited the checkpoint in Denham Town on several occasions and could not understand why no senior soldiers were posted there.

“No senior soldier nuh deh deh. A pure 19- and 20-year-old. Mi son get shot in his face or head and no helmet and pure cloth hat. I go there a lot of time and look for mi son, drop off things for my son, and a cloth hat me see dem inna and dem a pickney same way. So somebody must always be there to direct them, worse at night,” Reynolds said, adding she had been actively pursuing a transfer for her son for more than a month.

She said her son had also sought a transfer.

With a heavy grief to bear, she has withdrawn herself from social media, especially TikTok.

“Every skip yuh skip, a him. Mi nuh really have the energy to scroll through and look … . It just a kill mi. It killing mi because mi only a hear say mi son dead. Why mi can’t see mi son? See him and say, ‘Yes, a mi son. A my pickney this’,” she said.

Reynolds told The Gleaner that Domville had always harboured dreams of becoming a soldier, but upon enlisting, it was not as he anticipated.

“When training finish and him get in, him say, ‘Mommy, a nuh what I expected, Mommy’. … Just last week mi say mi a go call up a Camp because how a 20-year-old to work all 100 and odd hours and no sleep? How dem gonna work properly? Without sleep, you can’t think properly; your body and brain tired,” Reynolds said.

Despite the shortcomings, Reynolds said Domville loved his work.

“Him brave, him magnificent, him marvellous, him joyous, compassionate; he was everything to me,” she said. “Mi son a mi life. Mi son a mi everything. Mi son make mi smile, him a mi everything, him a mi breadwinner, everything.”

Up to press time last night, The Gleaner was unable to make contact with the JDF’s Civil Military Co-operation and Media Affairs Department as all calls went unanswered.

Last Friday, Lt Col Carl Clarke, the acting brigade commander of the Jamaica Regiment responsible for deployments across the island in support of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF), expressed regret over Domville’s death during a media briefing.

The death is being investigated by the JCF.

andre.williams@gleanerjm.com