WESTMORELAND, Jamaica— What should have been a short visit to the supermarket to grab a box of cornflakes and a pack of Lasco milk turned to tragedy for two Westmoreland families as their teenage boys died in a motorcycle accident on Friday night.

Allegations are that 19-year-old Javian Black and his friend, who has only been identified as ‘TJ’, were heading to a corner shop on a motorcycle when they refused a police stop and a chase ensued.

It is alleged that during the chase they were hit from the motorcycle by a police service vehicle.

Black’s mother was home waiting for him to return from the shop but minutes turned to hours and then the unexpected call came to his father’s phone.

The father, David, recalled moments leading up to receiving the news of his son’s death.

“Friday mi deh home and a pure phone call [coming in]. Mi son a Orange Hill call me [and asked] if mi nuh hear wah happen to Javian. A him first call me and after that the phone nuh stop ring,” the distraught father recounted, before revealing that Black was his last child.

He said his son purchased the bike to use as a mode of transportation to his work, where he is employed in the kitchen.

“As him leave school him start work after Corona [COVID] and him save him likkle money where he coulda buy a bike,” David said.

While he is searching for answers, the father said he wished his son would have stopped and cooperated with the lawmen.

“Him should have stop when the police stop him or dem give him a phone call to call me, him woulda get bailed today,” the father said in distress.

As for another of Javian’s friend, identified only as Matthew, he told Observer Online that his friend of many years did not deserve to die the way he did.

He also relayed what he heard happened leading up to the fatal crash.

“Weh mi hear [is that] di [police] jeep did a come and give him the way to come out. And same time the jeep start chase him down and him nuh badda stop a di shop. Him continue to come round a New Hope and St Paul,” Matthew, who is also a bike owner, said.

He believes that Black and the pillion were heading to his home in a bid to elude the cops who were allegedly chasing them.

But for the teen’s sister Sasheka, she believes the police erred when they reportedly did not call an ambulance to transport her brother to the hospital.

“Why yuh never call the ambulance? I saw the video with his hand on his belly and his fingers were moving. How you know seh when you lift him up, yuh nuh lift him up bad?” the eldest sister asked, questioning the police’s actions. She believes that had the ambulance been called for, her brother would still be alive today.

Sasheka said she is not hopeful of the prospects of the investigation that will be undertaken.

“This a guh sweep under the rug. Nothing not coming out of it. A two weeks talk,” she belted as tears ran down her cheeks.

Despite her doubts, she is hoping that “justice” will prevail.

Meanwhile, Member of Parliament for Westmoreland Western Morland Wilson told Observer Online that the family will receive help following the tragic accident.

“I stand ready to support them in whatever way I can through the various government ministries,” he said.

“At this time they are all pensive about what type of investigation will take place and who will take the lead,” Morland expressed.

He said reassurance has been given to the family that the Independent Commission of Investigations (INDECOM) has been informed and will do their due process.

Attempts made to get a report of the accident from the Jamaica Constabulary Force’s Corporate Communications Unit (CCU) since early Saturday morning were futile.

—Kimberley Peddie