BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – “I am coming home now!” These were the last words Trisha Warner received in a text message from her brother before hearing of his tragic death on Friday night (Oct. 8).
Speaking with SKNVibes on the following day, the distraught sister said that while on her way home shortly before 9:00 p.m. on Friday, she saw her brother “liming with his friends in Old Road”.
“I text him saying, ‘You ain’t live nowhere?” And he responded…‘I am coming home now!’ but he never reached. While in bed, I received a phone call from my aunt sometime after 10 o’clock and she said that Maurice is dead. I was shocked and couldn’t speak, knowing that just over an hour before I saw him in a happy mood in Old Road,” Warner said.
Warner stated that apart from the text message, she had spoken to her brother early Friday morning before he left for work, noting that before departing the home he would routinely say, “Babes, I’m leaving.”
Maurice ‘Juzima’ Rawlins (23) was the owner and driver of motor vehicle P297 in which he and three other young men lost their lives following an accident at Romney Ground, Sandy Point in the vicinity of J’s Place at about 10:50 p.m. on Friday, October 8.
The three others are Lasinto Bradshaw (22), Damian Harris (23) and Dexter James (32), who all resided at Sandy Point.
While at the deceased home in The Alley, this media house met a number of Rawlins’ family members, among whom were two of his brothers, great uncle Dr. Asyl Warner and his cousin Tonisha Rouse, who spoke of the close-knitted, brother/sister relationship she had with him from infancy.
She informed that Rawlins was the son of Paulina Rawlins of St. Pauls and Lennox Warner of The Alley, Sandy Point, owner of Lennox Warner and Partner Construction Company.
Rouse said that from the tender age of two Rawlins had taken up residence at his father’s home, from where he had attended the Sandy Point Primary and High Schools; schools that she also attended.
She has fond memories of their formative years, noting that “even though he was a few years younger than I, we had developed a brother/sister relationship which lasted until his death. As we grew the bond became stronger and, during our school days, I would spend my Saturdays at his home revising what was taught during the week and also solve some of the problems we would have had with various subjects, as well as completing our respective assignments”.
Rouse described him as a very jovial individual who loved to socialise and always wore a pleasant smile even in times of adversity.
“Maurice was loved by all who knew him. He had no enemy and was always willing to give a helping hand to anyone who would have approached him. Today, I mourn the loss of not only a cousin, but also a brother, bosom pal and confidant.
“Words cannot convey the way I felt on learning of Maurice’s death. I was at home when I received a message at about 11:00 p.m. stating that he was involved in an accident and died on the spot. I couldn’t believe it…not even now, although it is a fact,” Rouse said.
SKNVibes learnt that the four deceased lived as brothers and not just friends. They were all employees of Lennox Warner and Partner Construction Company and could be regularly seen together. One of Rawlins’ brothers noted that the last time he had seen them together was on September 19 at the family’s home in The Alley celebrating the country’s 27th Independence Anniversary.
In addition to his parents, great uncle and sister Trisha, among those left to mourn Maurice ‘Juzima’ Rawlins’ death are his brothers Ikymo, Jovan and Kareem, and sister Vickisha.
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