Black Immigrant Daily News

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Keston Morris. –

Marilyn Wilson wants to bury her son. She is hoping that whoever killed him will at least give her an opportunity for closure by letting her know where his body is.

Newsday spoke with Wilson at her Production Avenue, Sea Lots, home on Wednesday.

The mother of six said she has accepted that her son Keston “Chos” Morris, 33, is dead, although police is still treating his case as that of a missing person.

She said she saw her son’s body on social media pages.

“I didn’t believe he was dead until I saw pictures for myself. I saw them and I say ‘That is my child, they kill him.’

“All I want, all I would like to have, is his body, his remains, because they say they chop it up.

“We don’t have any confirmation, but the people responsible say we can’t find that body at all, no matter how hard we try. My consolation is I know he dead, may his soul rest in peace somewhere, wherever it is.”

Wilson said her son, who was released from prison in 2018 after eight years on remand for murder, was always partying, seemingly to make up for lost time while in prison.

In April 2018, Morris, Reinaldo Marcano, 36, Raymond Birot, 45, Jirt Serrette, 32, Gerard Hepburn 24, Devon Samuel, 24, Terrence “Trix” David, Keon “Taliban” Lawrence and Joel “Snake” Roberts, 25, were all freed of murdering Ameil George, 24.

George, of Building One, Harding Place, Cocorite, was murdered on January 18, 2010. He was attacked near his home by a group of men during a robbery and was chopped multiple times.

Morris was part of what police called the “Dirty Dozen” after 12 men were charged with George’s murder. In July, the three others, Shawn Villafana, 23, Sherwin Alexander, 32, and Richard “Bulls” Thomas were acquitted.

Relatives, who were around when Newsday visited but did not want to be identified, recalled last seeing and hearing from Morris on July 16 after he planned to go to a party with his sister and some of her friends in the area.

That day he was seen leaving the area in a white Toyota Axio. One relative said he told those who saw him in the car that he was safe. He was never seen or heard from since.

Wilson said, on Sunday she began seeing pictures and hearing rumours that he was killed in Central Trinidad but police had no information on that. Calls by relatives to police stations and hospitals were fruitless in finding him.

Wilson said after seeing three photos of her son tied up, two where he looked alive and one with him looking as though he was dead with what she believes to be a gunshot to the head, she was convinced he was killed.

She said her son must have been betrayed because in one of the photographs he appeared shocked at who was having him tied up.

Relatives said all the photographs they saw came from Morris’ phone. They said the killers were using his Instagram account to send photos and, in some cases, were liking images of him missing. They questioned why police had not tracked his phone to find his body and/or his killers.

Asked why she was so calm speaking about her son in the past tense, Wilson said she accepted that he is dead and had cried before. She believes a time will come when her son’s killers and or their relatives will have to cry.

Wilson said Morris was anticipating his son’s first birthday on Sunday and had plans to go to the Radisson Hotel with his siblings and their children to celebrate.

Relatives said Morris was a “ladies man” who did not work, but was cared for by the women in his life – some of whom knew about the others and had no issue sharing him.

“He is a lucky fella when it comes to girls because he had many,” Wilson said.

Asked why someone would want to kidnap and kill him, Wilson said: “We live in communities that warring each other, so enemy grab him. They want to make it look like is Sea Lots, but is not Sea Lots. Is enemy hands he end up in.”

She could not swear that her son “don’t do nothing,” but could only testify to what he told her and he never told her he was involved in criminality.

“My only hope is to ask God, even if it is in whole, in pieces, in whatever, just for a body to bury – that’s all I want, a body to bury. Even if is just a fingernail, just to say my final goodbye and ‘Son rest in peace.’”

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Black Immigrant Daily News

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Black Immigrant Daily News

Birth control pills can help you avoid pregnancy, but they can also have other benefits.

While birth control is the most common reason people use the pill, more than half of users rely on it to regulate their periods, relieve endometriosis symptoms, prevent ovarian cysts, and help with PCOS, cramps, PMS, and anaemia.

Birth control contraceptive pills have been very easy to obtain in St Lucia in recent years. Although the Pharmacy Act of 2007 states that contraceptive pills are a prescription-only drug, until recently, purchasers were often not required to present their prescriptions.

The Pharmacy Council observed that many pharmacies throughout the island were selling contraceptives without a prescription, which is against the law, and has recently enforced this law.

“That law has always been there, we are just enforcing it. If you check the Pharmacy Act of 2007, the requirement is you need a prescription to purchase contraceptives. There are a lot of things that we need to enforce. We see it happening too often and people are just walking into a pharmacy and buying contraceptives without a prescription. The pharmacies are dispensing contraceptives without prescriptions so we are enforcing the laws and pharmacies need to abide by the laws,” the Pharmacy Council said.

While contraception requires a prescription, morning-after pills (emergency contraceptives) can be purchased without one. According to the Council, morning-after pills are a pharmacy-assisted drug that does not require a doctor’s visit.

“The emergency contraceptive pill is a pharmacy-assisted drug, which means it can only be purchased from a pharmacy authorised by a pharmacist, and the consumer has to be counseled by the pharmacist. You don’t need a doctor’s prescription to get the emergency contraceptive pill.”

“There are different forms of contraception, there are different formulations, there are different ingredients in contraceptives, and that is the reason why you need a prescription. You have to be examined by a physician and the physician will be in a better position to determine which form of contraceptive is better for the patient.”

The Pharmacy Act of 2007 states:

A pharmacist shall at all times have regard to the laws and regulations applicable to pharmaceutical practice and maintain a high standard of professional conduct.

A person who contravenes a provision of this Act for which no penalty is specified commits an offence and is liable upon conviction to a fine not exceeding $5,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year or to both.

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Black Immigrant Daily News

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Black Immigrant Daily News

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Aamir Hussain, chief technology and product officer at Liberty Latin America, addresses the audience at Canto.

Cable and Wireless unveiled its strategy to help bridge the digital divide across the Caribbean with the JUMP initiative, a three to five-year plan that will result in providing access, devices and increase digital skills in individuals, communities and local economies.

Rosario Veras, senior director of marketing and operations at CWC said at Canto’s 37th annual conference and trade exhibition in Miami that low broadband penetration in the Caribbean continues to diminish opportunities for people.

“But with the support of funding partners we aim to significantly close this gap through a comprehensive program,” she said.

“Digital inclusion is about ensuring the benefits of digital technologies are available to everyone. We must have intentional digital inclusion strategies and strive to eliminate institutional and structural barriers to technology accessibility.”

Rosario Veras, senior director, marketing and operations, C&W Communications, engages colleague Charles Douglas, senior manager, regulatory affairs.

Veras said CWC will partner with regional governments along with non-profit organisations and private sectors to ensure the programme’s success.

Aamir Hussain, chief technology and product officer at Liberty Latin America, the parent company of CWC said broadband is a critical tool to enable progress and create access for all.

“Although there are currently 27 million users in the Caribbean, this only represents 60 per cent of the total population,” he said. “Therefore there is a tremendous opportunity for growth.”

The Canto annual conference and trade exhibition connects people and businesses to share ideas and knowledge to empower the ICT industry. It was held at the Fontainbleau Hotel in Miami Beach, Florida on Sunday.

At the conference, Guyanese Prime Minister Mark Anthony Phillips said the goal should be universal broadband service across the region. He said that covid19 highlighted the increasing importance of ICTs.

“No country, no region, no town, no village, no community and no person should be left unconnected,” he said. “We cannot begin to speak of digital evolution without addressing the manifest injustice and inequality of the underlying digital divide.”

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