CRUSHED TO DEATH: A grieving mother Charmane Newell tells of her grief after freak death of 12 y-o son Raheem Davey, injury to daughters

 BY KIMONE FRANCIS Observer staff reporter francisk@jamaicaobserver.com  Monday, November 21, 2016     

CHARMANE Newell came face to face with every parent’s worst nightmare on Friday, November 11. Her 12-year-old son Raheem Davey was dead.

He was crushed to death when massive boulders which had long threatened her hillside residence came tumbling down. One of Raheem’s twin sisters, Shennelle Brown, remains in hospital, only breathing with the help of a machine. The other, Jhenelle, is yet to realise what happened though she too was left nursing injuries.

The house Raheem and his two sisters were asleep in
when tragedy struck

“It’s still very hard coping with the death of Brandon (Raheem) and to know that his sister is still in the hospital and not breathing on her own is hell for me,” Newell painstakingly told the Jamaica Observer North and East.

She said Raheem was the “kindest, most loving, gentle child” this writer would have ever come across, had we met. “I didn’t know Brandon was this loving until now. When you hear people talk about him, you would want to know him, trust me,” she said.

Newell was not short of words to describe her eldest of three children. “He was the most mannerable child.”

But while she continues to grapple with such a tragic loss, she is reminded by reality that the days ahead will be difficult, particularly when she will have to explain to her eight-year-old twins that Brandon is never coming back.

One of three boulders that ripped
 through the house Raheem and his sisters
 were sleeping in

“I’m just trying to get her (Jhenelle) to be happy. I have to be trying to do everything to ensure that she is. I don’t think she understands what has happened but I think later on when she starts missing her brother, she will.

Eight-year-old Jhenelle carries a
cushion as she makes her way
 from the house that was ravaged
by the boulders.

“As the days go by it’s really taking a toll on me, but I’m really trying my best. I know I’m not going to be able to deal with this because he was my first son. Nothing can ever replace him. It’s really hard,” Newell said.

She recalled the last conversation she had with Raheem before tragedy struck.

“We were down the road and I said to them, ‘What unuh want to eat?’ Him seh, ‘Mommy, mi know you nuh have nuh whole heap of money so just buy me a $50 biscuit and a $50 juice’...After mi buy it and a put them on a car for them to go up him seh, ‘Mommy mi love yuh, yuh hear? Later,’” she said, adding that the pain is unbearable. more