Clarendon crash leaves boy orphaned
Athree-year-old is now an orphan following the death of his father, Renford ‘Hector’ Mowen, on Tuesday. Mowen, who died in a multi-vehicle crash along the Chapelton main road in Clarendon, was his son’s only surviving parent. The child lost his mother at six-months-old.
Lorna Ellis, Mowen’s mother, who has been caring for the orphaned baby, was too grief-stricken to speak when THE WEEKEND
STAR visited her Ballards River, Clarendon, community on Thursday.
Dexter Moore, a taxi operator, said he and Mowen grew up together and he now plans on being there for the three-year-old.
“My sister and I were talking that it’s hard that the boy don’t have a mother and him don’t have a father. We looking into it and say we have to assist in every way,” he shared, as he pointed out that Mowen was a very kind person and had the shoe been on the other foot, he would have done the same.
INJURIES RECEIVED IN CRASH
Clarendon College driver Keith Dunkley died in the May Pen Hospital on Wednesday from the injuries he received in the crash. Police reports said that about 3:45 Tuesday afternoon, Dunkley was driving a Toyota Coaster bus which is owned by the school. He was heading towards Chapelton. The bus collided with a Toyota Probox taxi, driven by Mowen, and a Ford Ranger motor truck. Mowen was flung from his vehicle. His passing has caused much agony for family members and fellow cabbies.
“Hector is a real good friend. All of us grew up in the community, we could always talk about anything,” Moore said.
Taxi operator Kenneth Brown, who plies the Chapelton to May Pen route, described Mowen’s passing as “a difficult loss for anyone to accept”.
Reflecting on the kind of person Mowen was, he said from the first day on the job as a taxi operator he saw Mowen looking out for another taxi driver.
Brown said that although there is nothing organised, taking care of the boy is something that the taxi drivers will be looking deeply into.
“Knowing that the child has lost his mother and a father, who was really the sole supporter, we definitely have to see what can be done,” he said.
Commenting on fellow taxi drivers, Brown said they are not taking Mowen’s death well, and are all going through a difficult time.
“When I went on the scene, I had to try hard to hold back the tears and I am not one that cries easily,” he said.