The Late Ezra David
Police are still unable to make an official ruling on the suspicious death of George Allen junior, affectionately known as ‘Ezra David’. Ezra passed away at the Seventh Day Adventist Hospital in Trinidad where he clung to life for three months after he was discovered ravaged, on the brink of death in a ghaut, at the bottom of Brades above the Carrs Bay area.
The 33-year-old Davy Hill resident was found badly beaten with a gunshot wound to the head, semi-conscious, close to the N&B Service Station at Carr’s Bay on March 18, 2012.
In a press conference on Monday, the Commissioner of Police Mr. Steve Foster announced that an autopsy had been conducted on the body from which the Chief Medical Officer (CMO) in Trinidad and Tobago will provide a report at a later date.
He said, “The case is not closed, we are still continuing investigation into the incident, and we are also being assisted by the BVI Police. They are reviewing the case and all the evidence which we have gathered so far. The Trinidad and Tobago Police have also assisted us both with forensic analysis and also with modern assistance in relation to our investigation; currently there is one inspector on the ground in Trinidad assisting in the gathering of evidence as we speak.”
“I’m also in communication with the CMO and Ezra’s family. The family is fully aware of what we are doing. The CMO will make the necessary request for medical reports and other reports which are vital to the investigation,” said the Commissioner.
However the death has spurred emotional opinions and discontentment amongst the Montserrat community. Initially, the young-man’s amazing survival of what many considered to be a fatal ordeal and the following three months afterwards, lead many to believe that he may have been able to recover from the incident, if transferred to a United Kingdom (UK) medical facility.
Prior to his death, family members and Ezra’s partner Miss Veta Wade said in an appeal for financial assistance that Ezra was listed as critically stable and that doctors believed that he might have made a full recovery with consistent health care.
She said that the cost of caring for her partner was escalating in Trinidad and he needed to be moved to the UK where he would have been cared for through the National Health Service. The cost to medevac David was estimated at US$100,000 because of all of the elements that were critical to keep him stable during the flight.
Following this incentive the family had reached out to the Government for assistance for assistance but was unsuccessful. Family and friends then sought donations from the public but all was a little too late.
The Hon. Donaldson Romeo sought help from the UK Govt. to assist, writing on June 20, 2012, to Mr. Bellingham Secretary of State. “He asked that Allen be accepted as one of the five cases from Montserrat per year accepted by the UK for onward care.”
That letter also sought, “I therefore ask for your intervention; and, beyond this case, for help in addressing the wider challenge of adequate health services and support for cases like this in the Montserrat as well as British Overseas Territories in a similar situation.,” seeking to establish and adding strength to a suggestion made by Premier Meade following an official contingent visit from Guadeloupe earlier this year.
Minister Colin Riley eventually revealed, as he sought to simplify Romeo’s efforts, well after Romeo had publicized his efforts, that his Ministry of Health via his intercession had already sought and received free hospital bed in Trinidad, and that Government had already decided to fund Allen’s travel to the UK.
