Adoracion mourns two singers killed in MoBay crash
Published:Wednesday | May 4, 2022 | 12:14 AMJanet Silvera/Senior Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
Popular gospel group Adoracion is mourning the death of two of its singers, who were killed when their car hit an embankment and a utility pole along the Bogue main road in Montego Bay, St James, on Monday night.
Collin Graham, a morgue attendant at Delapenha Funeral Home of a Rosemount address in St James, and Lionel Dehaney, a merchandiser at Red Stripe and of a Ramble Hill, Gordon Crossing address in the parish, reportedly died on the spot.
Reports are that about 10:15 p.m., Graham was driving a yellow Toyota Allion, southbound along the Bogue road, when upon reaching the vicinity of the sewer plant, he lost control of the vehicle, which climbed the embankment and crashed into the pole.
Both men were thrown from the vehicle, which overturned and landed in a resident’s backyard in Bogue Village.
On Tuesday, members of the group had to console themselves in what musical director Andre Williams described as a coming together.
“We don’t view ourselves as members. We consider ourselves as family. To lose two members in such a tragedy is unbearable,” he told The Gleaner, pointing out that Graham, at age 23, was poised for a bright future.
The fun-loving and charismatic Graham was about to release his second song, titled God Provides.
When it came to his work ethics, the church, and family, Williams said that Graham was very committed.
His friend and singing partner of the last six years, Dehaney, who was 10 years his senior, attended the Sandy Bay Christian Fellowship, played the keyboard, and was also a recording artiste.
The two, along with the other 20 members of Adoracion – which means worship – were a staple of the renowned New Year’s Eve concert Genesis.
This is the second death to hit the Delapenha team since the start of the year, and Danielle Effs, who managed Graham, could not hide the sorrow in her voice when The Gleaner spoke with her Tuesday afternoon.
“You are so used to catering to people you don’t know. Can you imagine catering to your own?” she said, still shocked by the death.
Graham, she said, was very jovial, dedicated, and full of life.
“He was helpful; one of those team members that never backed down from a task. Has been with the company for over a year and had an immense passion for music,” she reflected.
Graham attended the Cambridge Gospel Chapel, where his father, a police corporal with the Jamaica Constabulary Force, is the pastor.