The Tribune

By SANCHESKA BROWN

Tribune Staff Reporter

sbrown@tribunemedia.net

THE MOTHER of Tyronne “TJ” Saunders, the young man who mysteriously died while in police custody last June, said she is both hurt and angry that she still has no date for a Coroner’s inquest, while other cases are getting top priority.

Speaking with The Tribune, Joann McKenzie said while her heart goes out to the mothers who lost their children “in the hands of the police”, her son also had a family and is also a victim and it seems he has been forgotten.

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 the hospital.

A week after his death, a coroner’s report revealed that Saunders died of a heart attack – a claim his mother says she does not believe. Now almost a year his death Ms McKenzie said police have stopped calling her and now she is being avoided by the coroner’s court.

“They told me he died of a heart attack, there was supposed to be a coroner’s inquest but it hasn’t happened yet and they never called me. I been calling and going and they either avoid me or tell me they can’t give me no information. Now these other two boys are dead. I feel for their mothers. I understand their pain, but how did they get a date so quickly and what about my son, he deserves justice as well,” she said.

“No one thought I was serious, now it has happened again. They making up these stories about heart attacks and stuff.” However, she said, boys are dying “at the police station and they won’t tell you anything. My problem is they fixing to deal with these other cases but what about my son? What about Tyrone? What about him? He leave a family too, he left a whole son and a family that loved and cared for him.”

Ms McKenzie said ultimately she just wants justice – justice for her son and justice for the other men who died while in police custody.

“I hope,” she said, “God finds justice for me and the rest of them. The police are going overboard. I know my son didn’t have a heart attack and no one will give me answers. All these people are working together. They are all hoping I chill out so they could push it under the rug. I lost it at first, I had to help myself. I had to tell myself everyday my child isn’t coming home. I just want answers, answers and justice.”