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Mother blasts coroner’s report on son’s death

Joann McKenzie, the mother of Tyronne TJ Saunders, with his child Tyreek.

Joann McKenzie, the mother of Tyronne TJ Saunders, with his child Tyreek.

As of Friday, June 15, 2012

By CELESTE NIXON

Tribune Staff Reporter

cnixon@tribunemedia.net

THE MOTHER of 22-year-old T J Saunders has blasted the official coroner’s report suggesting her son died of a heart attack while in police custody at the Central Detective Unit.

Speaking with The Tribune yesterday, Joan McKenzie said she does not believe her son died of a heart attack as listed on the autopsy report.

“They tried to tell me that he died of a heart attack,” said Ms McKenzie. “I don’t think that is true, it’s a lie. Things are a little funny and strange.

“I don’t believe that, something had to have triggered it. How does a young and vibrant man, very much in good health die like that?”

Tyrone “T J” Saunders, died while in police custody just over a week ago.

Police said Saunders was arrested on June 7 near Bamboo Shack on Baillou Hill Road in connection with murder. He was found unresponsive in his cell the following day. Coroner Linda Virgill visited CDU and saw the body before it was taken to hospital.

Still in disbelief, Ms McKenzie said while she does not think the report is correct, she is proceeding with the funeral arrangements, but will be retaining a lawyer to further investigate what happened to her son.

“I really cannot believe this, I don’t trust the police. I am going to get an attorney and have the matter investigated,” she said. “He wasn’t a saint but he has never been convicted of anything.”

Comments

BahaMan 12 years, 6 months ago

This comment was removed by the site staff for violation of the usage agreement.

Oracle 12 years, 6 months ago

Hire a coroner...invest in what you believe

mynameis 12 years, 6 months ago

Without an independent evaluation of the cause of death, as in this mother hiring another pathologist to conduct an autopsy on her son, I really don't know how a lawyer is going to help her dispute the findings of the Pathologist in this case.

bobbywright 12 years, 6 months ago

trust nutting going to happen , with this case ,that young man was pure trouble in the community no one going to assist this lady , am sorry but it the gods truth

JohnBrown 12 years, 6 months ago

Do you believe that this woman can honestly tell this fatherless boy to love the Police? Or it more likely that she might fit to insite the war between youth and their oppressors by turn his head towards the scriptures and tell him to use this as his guiding light ...Deuteronomy 19:21 Show no pity: life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot. New International Version ©1984 by Biblica

JohnBrown 12 years, 6 months ago

¨Now for the supposedly educated ones amoungst us:Do you believe that this grand mother can honestly tell her fatherless grandson to love the police or politicians that suppost such mess? Or os it more likely that she might see fit to incite the war between youth and their oppressors by turn his head towards the scriptures and tell him to use this as his guiding light ...Deuteronomy 19:21 Show no pity: life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot. New International Version ©1984 by Biblica

You can remove this comment for being inflamitory, but I hope that you don't choke in church as you remember the guiding force of the Bible that you stood against, whilst you preach that the Bahamas is such a christain country. Ha!

John 12 years, 6 months ago

This comment was removed by the site staff for violation of the usage agreement.

porkchops 12 years, 6 months ago

sorry, honestly cant say i feel for her. Speaking as a mother myself, i honestly can't feel sorry. What it is is a lack of training, and most parents fail to understand this. Your child is doing poorly in school, you reward them with the latest Jordans, a laptop, blackberry cellphone or whatever the child requests. The child sees that no standard is set, because he or she wants these things and you readily provide without teaching the value (making them work for it, whether it be a job after school or in the summer or getting good grades in school). It teaches them they can get whatever they want when they want it and as they grow they grow with that mentality. Once out of school they now realize things don't just fall into their laps like it used to...they then start to find ways to make "quick money" they resort to getting this money "by any means necessary". Another issue is respect of people and their property and manners..if children are taught these things from small it will never leave..I always remember my mother teaching me right from wrong and saying yes or no ma'am or sir knowing the value of peoples belongings and up to this day I would not touch someones personal items without permission. There is also a battle with peer pressure trying to fit in to impress the crowd...I feel as though if you are a parent you should be involved in your child's life. Know all their friends and just have a chat maybe every week or so to see how things are going in school. These are vital to any child's upbringing and can be detrimental to the child if not taken seriously. Right now with my 1 year old I am instilling values and morals because at this age he can understand. It is important to start early so that the child grows with these teachings. These are some of my thoughts as to why this man may have been such a menace to society...I am deeply sorry for her loss...but in all honesty it is her fault. I am rearing my child in the way of which i was raised. I am not saying I am an exemplary member of society but I am not bringing harm to my society in anyway either. This is my five cents...I'm just sayin....

Florida 12 years, 6 months ago

You could do all you can for your kids but that is not a guarantee that they will do as they were raised. Kids and young adults have a mind of their own. I raised my daughter as a single mother. My daughter attended private christan schools all her life, competed in gymnastic all over the state and the Junior olympics. My daughter was a honor student, graduated high school with honors and is in her second yr in college as a pre-med student. With all of that she still does things that are not the way she was raised. Her first year in college she got a tattoo twice, knowing that I am against that. I know it's not the same at the young man in this article, but the point is no matter what, there is no guarantee, all we could do as parents is to continue to do our best, pray for our children and live a life of example around them. Pray that they don't stray from their upbringing but if they do, that they turn around before it's too late.

spoitier 12 years, 6 months ago

While I see some of your points, I keep hearing you saying how you are raising your 1 year old which is a baby and you are so far from when the real test will come. I don't hear nothing about how your husband and you are raising her, the problem with most of these kids is not having a father or good male role model in their life, I pray that your daughter will grow up to be a great contributer to society but be careful about how you aproach certain situations.

peaches 12 years, 6 months ago 

 I've read all of the comments posted to this article and i've been following this story, and it is a sad day when we have individuals, let me rephrase that Bahamians, who  actually condone pure mess. How is it that we don't take the time to comment or raise our voices when countless family members are victimized by these criminals on a daily basis. How is it that we don't comment when  police officers are literally killed and shot at, or when honest Bahamians are afraid to live in this country and can't sleep at night. Yet we can find the time to make stupid remarks about half truths. If we take the time and do our research into some of these matters and find out the circumstances that revolve around them we will find out exactlly what is going on. 
     Example if we take a look closer this mother admitted that her son was safer in prison because of his lifestyle, she also stated that she knew what he was arrested for which was MURDER! he was also asthmatic and any type of interrogation could trigger an attack and if not treated it could lead to death. She also stated that he was light skinnen and anyone knows if a light skinned person passes away and has been there for a while, the individual will turn dark. 
      Hospital officials also know that when a person is identified in the morgue they are placed in plastic bags and the only parts of their bodies that are shown to the family is the face and only the immediate family members are allowed in the morgue for viewing. At the end of the day  my people when you have parents who condone mess and refuse to tell their children when they are wrong, we will continue to read stories such as this

mynameis 12 years, 6 months ago

Ok, Mr. or Mrs. Coroner...or should I say Mr. or Mrs. Pathologist? How about we wait until the Coroner's Inquest so we can actually hear the medical evidence on why this young man died and find out what is or isn't a half truth?

JohnBrown 12 years, 6 months ago

It is a shame to note that although alot of yack yack yack continues it never seems to approache the essence of our problem as manifested in crime and it's a lack of employment for the youth of this countrry as a whole. The older fat cats rake in millions and billions for members of the old boys club, who are bent on the following: the satisfaction of me myself and I. I say that the youth must take back what is theirs from the politicial arena or die trying to wrench from Lucifer the power to determin their own destiny. Identify the enemy, focus on it, and then execute the whole bushel of snakes in one final thrust. Remember when unemployment goes down so does crime and if all of the good jobs are being given to females, that means that the young men are not being given the chance to prove themselves to be trainable and productive young fathers as the old fogies lick up the milk of the young ladies. This is shameful. Stop this mess of be stopped! Now, go right ahead and stricken these comments from your little twisted, narrow minded website...Remember when you spit in the wind it will blow back in your face...fools.

spoitier 12 years, 6 months ago

You know you was making a lot of sense until you talk about all the good jobs being giving to female. If you give the jobs to males just because their males then the level of work will decrease also then females who are more capable of doing these jobs may resolve to crimes also, maybe not murder but robbery and prostitution. I think employment needs to go up but also people have to develop a mind of an Entrepreneur to create jobs for themselve as well as others.

concernedcitizen 12 years, 6 months ago

ONLY A QUATER OF OUR CHILDREN THAT GRADUATE CAN READ OR WRITE ,HOW CAN YOU EMPLOY THEM .I USED TO DO KITCHEN CABINETS AND TOOK GREAT JOY IN TEACHING A YOUNG MAN OR WOMAN CARPENTRY ..THEN I OPENED A SHOP AND HAD TWELVE EMPLOYEES ,BIG MISTAKE ,I WAS GETTING ROBBED BLIND IN HOURS WORKED AND MATERIALS ,AND I PAYED WELL HAVING COME UP THROUGH THE TRADES MYSELF ,,SHUT THE BIZ NOW WORK WITH ONE HELPER AT A TIME AND TRY TO SHOW THEM ABOUT HONESTY AND A FAIR DAYS WORK FOR A FAIR DAYS PAY,,

mynameis 12 years, 6 months ago

Were you being robbed blind because they couldn't read or write, or because they were dishonest and sticky fingered, and lacked a sense of right and wrong? Otherwise your comment doesn't track.

concernedcitizen 12 years, 6 months ago

STICKY FINGERED ,BUT THEY COULD READ AND WRITE THAT WAS 25 YRS AGO ..ALOT OF OUR YOUNG PEOPLE NOW ARE LEAVING SCHOOL WITH OUT THE ABILITY TO WRITE AND DO MATHS

realtalkonli 12 years, 5 months ago

To home girl with the one year old. I hope u don't be that ignorant when your child old enough to comprehend with this new and cruel generation. I most likely younger than you and feel sorry that your child have to embrace the hatred implanted in ya cold heart. I say dis mad but not mad enough that if something like this turn around n hunt u I would say, "sorry honestly cant say i feel for her. ..., i honestly can't feel sorry. What it is is a lack of training, and most parents fail to understand this". But I say that to say this, many pastors, teachers and police grow their kids up under strict homes and still have some of the most whorish and gangsta kids round. You talk as if u watch this woman grow her now deceased son up personally. I say dat to say dis. Every man have their own destiny and is accountable for it by the Father. As humans we shuddin cast judge upon no man for we all sin and will be judged by how we judge others. We have alot of Bahamian professional athletes who was taught to dive conch and find a job after school but that wasn't their destiny . Mammy always used to tell me find a inside job cause of my headaches as a kid but I quit boxing and now have a football scholarship. O n yes my mudda was strict on me but at one point I still was a street nigga. Kane and Able was under the best conditions of dis world ever but one still resort to violence. Miss it started with pride n ga end dat way. Today we are under a prideful generation who lik to be seen n fit in. Find dese niggas a job cause dey get da trades n talent, then tell five O to stop harassing n watch da difference.

realtalkonli 12 years, 5 months ago

I don't understand humans. If this mother was lying like the rest saying her son was a 'good boy' swearing for him n ish, everyone would have been upset because of the incident leading to his death but she was honest enough to admit her son wasn't the best and instead of getting the remorse and respect she deserve y'all bashing her for no reasons, just based on what y'all hear n from who? No man should be above the law no matter what but yet he is the problem right? Wow no wonder the Bahamas is such a wonderful place . Oh and for the ones that feel like this was 'good' for the mother, you prolly to ignorant to detect the sarcasm in that last statement but oh believe me, its there.

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