After forgiving the children who shot and killed his son during horseplay with a loaded gun, Phillip Thomas yesterday told a packed church at the child’s funeral he could not find it in him to forgive the parents of the children. Speaking during the funeral service at the Church of Christ, Brunton Road, Diego Martin, Thomas said the death of his 11-year-old son, Ruben Reid, was a “great sacrifice” and he could not contain himself.
“It was tragic, it was senseless and it was stupid and I really can’t find the place to forgive the parents of those children...both parents. “I forgive the boys who use the weapon because them and all don’t know...the people who really give the children and them access to pick up a firearm. I find it is not a good thing to have in society,” Thomas said, adding that an example like that to a child at an early age was a testament to decay in society.
Reid, a Standard Five pupil of Diego Martin Primary School, died after he was shot in the face by a shotgun after he went with a 13-year-old friend to the forested area where the 13-year-old’s brothers—11 and six—were tending to their father’s crops of corn, peas and plantain off the hills of Richplain, Diego Martin.
Police said around 11.30 am on August 6, the 13-year-old allegedly loaded the shotgun. Moments later his 11-year-old brother is alleged to have fired once, hitting Reid in the face. He died from a single gunshot wound to the face. The father of eight said his first five children grew up in Laventille which has been plagued with criminal activity and none of his children had been victim of crime or criminality.
He told the mourners when he heard his son was shot he thought he would have survived after seeing the ambulance. That hope was dashed after he saw a hearse for Armstrong Funeral Home arrive on the scene. Other mourners who attended praised the parents of Reid and called on parents and guardians to do better in raising their children and called on children to be obedient to their parents.