THE family of Mario Deane, already struggling to raise funds to bury their loved one, has been dealt another blow as the funeral home handling the body has refused to use a casket and a hearse that was donated to the family by a popular entertainer.
This was confirmed yesterday by the entertainer, who was adamant that his identity not be published.
“I am so disappointed after I called the people and they told me that they would not accept an ‘outside casket’, which was the choice of the family. It is sad that these people could not choose humanitarianism over money. The family really wanted the casket with his picture on it. I don’t want to be identified as I am not seeking any publicity. This was a gesture from the heart,” the entertainer said.
Deane’s funeral will take place on Sunday at the Cornwall Gardens Seventh-day Adventist Church, but it was still not clear how the family will be paying for the funeral expenses.
Deane died on August 6, three days after receiving a brutal beating while in the custody of the Barnett Street Police. Police had initially told doctors at the Cornwall Regional Hospital that he had fallen off a bed, but changed their story after howls of protest.
According to Deane’s sister, Sadiki Deane, the donation of the casket and the hearse would have relieved their financial stress if the undertakers had not taken the decision to snub the offer.
“That would have lifted a huge weight off us. They told my mother, it’s, [the] policy. We don’t know what to do at this point. We can’t move him, its too late now,” Sadiki Deane said yesterday.
Deane’s mother, Mercia Frazer, was also crestfallen and seemed to have resigned herself to the decision of the undertakers.
“They know I can’t find the money, but I can’t deal with that now. I know people may say I am too easy-going,” she said.
Deane’s relatives had earlier rejected an offer from the Government to assist in financing his burial based on the principle that the State had not accepted culpability for his death.
Meanwhile, a probe into Deane’s death has been completed by the Independent Commission of Investigations (INDECOM) and an announcement on whether or not police officers will be charged is expected soon.
INDECOM commissioner Terrence Williams yesterday began to review the findings of his investigators.
Five officers have been suspended and have undergone an identification parade following the beating death of Deane, who was thrown in jail for possession of a ganja cigarette.
In an interesting twist in the case, the witness who took part in the identification parade, 21-year-old Fahdean Ferguson, escaped police custody minutes after the parade had ended.
Deane’s cellmates Marvin Orr and Adrian Morgan have been charged with his death and will appear in the Montego Bay Resident Magistrate’s Court today.
this is f**king sad and heartbroken..
entertainer yuh suda send dem weh grass nuh grow ..unno guh naam de bloodclaat badi den unno dutty shit house unno weh de phuck wrong wid dese ppl a wah more suffa de family fi suffa a suda bloodclaat mine family nd unno wuda really mek de pussiclaat news…………..money germs tek di phuck casket mek di ppl dem get sum peace kmftttttttttttttt mi so upset it nuh funny set a cho bloodclaat
Morning Met & JMGers.
It,s so sad that even in death this young man and his family still deh have struggles. So sorry for his mom and the rest of his family. Really hope the funeral home reconsiders and make an exception if only this once and or try to at least make some kind of compromise with the family.
Want to know if is just now the funeral home know. I would have thought that the entertainer and or family would have spoken to said funeral home as soon as this decision was made. Still sad,only hope them find a quick and favorable solution,so the Dean can be put to SIP.
Every minute unu tell bout unu love Jamaica.Mi love Di land mi nuh love di people.Dem lacking compassion.
Right here a the states is the same policy. My cousin’s husband wanted her buried in a poplar wood casket. I called to order it and they said to contact the funeral home first.
Called the funeral home we told them what kind of wood and the stipulation was that it had to be delivered directly to them at a given time. Maybe, the funeral home was left out of the arraignments before hand along with the fact that the casket is being decorated someplace.
The donor should just purchase the casket from the funeral home and left off the graphics…simple.
Mety I got to understand it was one those caskets with his pictures on it specially made with the glass around it
The funeral home is looking to make an extra buck so dem a reject it but in such a case it only a show how heartless dem is
Heartless fi tru
Put di greedy Funeral Home pon blast mek di public see dem nuh hve nuh heart n mek dem loose business
funeral homes are scum bags, extortionists of the dead
well I am old now and things might have changed, but when I lived in Jamaica, you could always remove the body from the funeral home and get it dressed at your preferred location. I know a lot of people that use to do that because they could not afford it…someone in the family would make the casket and then they get the body from the funeral home, dress it and place it in the casket and carry on the funeral
dwrln! you forgot to add that the casket and body in a hall/livingroom a yard! lololol Dem rass dem i will NEVER forget! dwln
theyre not wrong for putting their foot down…just imagine kfc serving people in BK bags…its not right…if they allowed this to happen others will be asking for the same ‘favour’
no one had to know, this is a special case so they could have made an exception dem love money tuh much
why the competitor never donate the money instead of using his own ?
Exactly Met, there are alwayst exceptions to rules and this is a case where they should have made that exception. Shame on the funeral home.
Dem cyah unite fi a good cause nuh time because a fi dem casket shudda use. They cant keep his body n do the funeral free and they cant have a heart neither..mi sick a dem
Every company have policy in how dem conduct dem business. They need to work with the upper management of the funeral home to see what can be done, or look for another funeral home who is willing to work pro-bono pon dem situation and move the body. There is always something that can be done.
Since wi nuh bury wi dead quick no more and depend so much pon funeral homes wi stuck wid dem and dem policies. Mebbie wi need to guh back to di days where di family prepare dem dead on dem own.
It’s the thought that counts they could make an exception under these circumstances since it’s such a delicate publicized case..dem nuh hav no heart
Very wicked of them, someone a donate and they know the family cannot pay but dem still waa mek it hard
Met? is it B.L or M, or yu links dem nu know? Me ago try and find out.
Why dem want expensive casket when dem don’t have money.every business have their rules,cremate the body if u can’t afford the casket simple.
Policy or not, the yute died under very detrimental circumstances and his family has financial constraints and someone is making a donation to dem cause. DI FUNERAL HOME COULD MAKE AN EXCEPTION..JESUS CHRISE MAN, THIS ONE TIME, IT NAH GO KILL DEM…
Let the public know de name a de Funeral Home. We want fe know a which funeral Home dis a gwaan wid dem almshouse ya.