Mother of accused inmate wants justice

While we were at the Ombudsman’s office we met the mother of the prison inmate who allegedly provided the knife used to stab Alvarez.  Daisy McKenzie is the mother of Jeremy Harris, a prisoner who is on a life sentence for the 2002 murder of businessman, Philip Chin.  As the story goes, it was Harris who provided the knife to Flowers, and Flowers used it to stab Alvarez this past Saturday.  But McKenzie says she does not have a problem with the punishment her son must endure, but she feels that both inmates should be dealt equal punishment.

Daisy McKenzie, mother of Jeremy Harris

“Deh have my son lock up way to the back and according to weh I di understand right now deh have the one weh really do the thing eena ih building weh ih supposed to deh.  I dah wah mother and I seh if di two ah deh commit this crime together then di two ah dehn should be in the same punishment.  Soh I noh understand why deh have he one side and the next one the other side, weh really commit the crime.  So dat dah mi my concern weh I come coh check pan and see what dehn could do. And ah can’t see ah and ah di try get information from the place and dehn lone di turn me around and seh ih wah een deh pan punishment fi wah while.”

Marion Ali

“What are you asking the Ombudsman to do?”

Daisy McKenzie

“If she could please put he eena the building when ih mi suppose to mi deh or put back the next person weh commit the crime dah back too.”

Cynthia Pitts, Ombudsman

“It is said that there is an inmate who passed the bora or weapon to the person who stabbed; and this morning the mother of that person who is alleged to have passed the weapon came here to say that her son was also being kept in circumstances that one can regard as a punishment or a penalty, while the person who is alleged to have done the act is not being kept in isolation.  That person is not being treated in the way of these two persons.”

The Ombudsman says she will also ask the Kolbe Foundation to give their side of the story and if McKenzie’s story is true, to explain the reason for not penalising the other prisoner, Jeffrey Flowers.  She added that her office has received several complaints from prison inmates about the treatment they receive at the Hattieville Prison.