Drowned man's mother: I dreamt his death

 Chris Durham found dead, near a river in Diego Martin.

In June 2019, three men; Chris Durham, Deon Calliste and Ian Sandy have been freed of murder, after appearing before Justice Devan Rampersad, based on a ruling by Justice Avason Quinlal-Williams, Hall of Justice, Port of Spain.  - ROGER JACOB
Chris Durham found dead, near a river in Diego Martin. In June 2019, three men; Chris Durham, Deon Calliste and Ian Sandy have been freed of murder, after appearing before Justice Devan Rampersad, based on a ruling by Justice Avason Quinlal-Williams, Hall of Justice, Port of Spain. - ROGER JACOB

Despite the grief of losing her son, Marie Durham, the mother of ex-convict Chris Durham said his death by drowning was not surprising, as she had earlier dreamt of his passing.

In July 2019, Durham, 32, was one of three men freed for the triple murder of Mentie Murai, Mubarak Calder and Kevon St Louis in 2009 after a landmark ruling by Justice Avalon Quinlan-Williams, who found the prosecution of the men by the Director of Public Prosecutions unreasonable.

Durham died on Tuesday after he slipped and fell into a river at Dillon Street, Diego Martin, while searching for his pet parrot, which had escaped on Monday.

Fishermen found his body in the water off the coast of Cocorite that afternoon.

Speaking with Newsday at the Forensic Science Centre, St James, on Friday, Durham said she knew that he would die.

"After ten years of him being in prison I only got to spend one year, four months and two days with my child. I had a dream a few nights before that he would drown. I originally thought I would be the one to die, but I saw that it was him.

"I told him to forget about that parrot. That afternoon when I saw how heavy the rains were falling by us, I told his brother that Chris drowned, and was going home, and look what came and happened."

Durham said despite some difficulties in adjusting to life after his release, her son stayed out of trouble and was looking for a job to support himself.

"He always said that he wanted to get himself back on track. My boss wanted to get a job for him at PriceSmart, but he said he couldn't face the public, because he was afraid of being ridiculed by people who knew he was in prison."

Durham said after hearing about her son's death, she was bombarded with phone calls from his friends offering sympathy. Some of them were still in prison.

Despite the condition of her son's body after drowning, she still hoped to hug him and kiss him one last time.

"I don't care what condition he is in. Even if he had covid19, I still wanted to hug him. That is my child, I made him," she said.

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"Drowned man’s mother: I dreamt his death"

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