Family calls for inquest into son’s death at centre

DESPERATE to find help for his schizophrenic son, David Berment entrusted him to the Transformed Life Ministry’s rehabilitation centre two years ago.

Five weeks later his son was dead, and now the former worker of the Ministry of Social Development – the ministry responsible for institutions such the centre – wants justice.

Speaking with the media at the Cascadia Hotel in St Ann’s on Thursday, Berment called on the owner of the institution, Pastor Glen Awong, to let him and other grieving families know what happened with their loved ones.

Berment and his wife Shirlyn Mitchell-Berment have retained attorney Gerald Ramdeen to help them as they call on the relevant authorities to have a coroner’s inquest into the death of David Israel Berment, who died by suicide on November 4, 2017 at the age of 25.

Berment admitted that he was warned by his co-workers not to take David to the facility, but said he had no other option as David ran away from every other institution he was placed in. He was hoping the Arouca-based facility would be different.

Ramdeen said there is a “systemic failure” in society, and the Health Ministry has treated the mental health institutions as the bastard child of the health sector. He said a coroner’s inquest is required when there is an unnatural death and, in the case of the aspiring pilot, his death is questionable.

Berment said after his son died, the first autopsy stated he died by hanging while the second autopsy, done by another pathologist, said he died from mechanical compression.

David was admitted to the centre on October 26, 2017 and his family was told that the cages they saw were used when patients were “behaving bad.”

Berment said he was called some three hours after his son died, and was told this was done because Awong was preaching and could not be disturbed.

As he recalled the last time he saw his son alive, Berment cried saying: “When I was leaving he came behind me and hugged me and held me by my neck and said ‘Daddy when you taking me out of here? I want to come home for Christmas, Daddy.’” Some days later, his son was dead.

He said he was told that David was placed in the cage naked, but got a sheet and hanged himself because, according to the account from Awong, David could not live without cocaine. There were no traces of cocaine in his system according to the second autopsy.

“I buried my child and I am still trying to get closure on what happened to my child. I wanted my child to live. I wanted him in a place to get better mentally and he could return home. Instead they gave him back to me a body bag.”