Slain security guard John Adams was hailed a hero yesterday at his funeral at the Duke Street Pentecostal Church, Port-of-Spain. Adams, 41, of Trou Macaque Road, Laventille, was killed in a robbery attempt on May 27 when gunmen stormed the Port-of-Spain jewelry store where he worked. Children from the Tranquillity Government Primary School attended the funeral as a show of support for Adams’ son, Shaquille, a Standard Four student at the school. Adams’ wife, Janelle Sutton, and others wept during the ceremony and had to be consoled by friends and relatives.
“Oh God, somebody bring him back please. I have to be alone, I don’t care, I want him back. Wake him up and let me tell him I love him. It ain’t fair,” Sutton cried. John Dyett, who gave the eulogy, said the service was the celebration of a hero and described Adams as a devoted, committed, loving father with a sense of humour. Elder Gordon Monroe, who officiated at the ceremony, said faith was needed.
“Everyone wants this nation to come out of the corner. We are losing our children, we are losing everything. We are losing hope, we are losing everything. Look at the divorce statistics, who can we turn to? We need somebody to help us out of this. It is a deadly situation we are in. I watch the drivers on the road. Madness. Everything is falling apart,” he said. Monroe said people were living without hope.
“There is hope. We can only make it if we try. Humans fail you. What hope are we going to give those children tomorrow? My grandmother taught me to pray,” he said. Monroe said there was a lot of technology but faith and hope in Jesus were necessary. “Cell phone batteries can die, but Jesus is alive. He could take that grief and turn that around. Encourage your children to know Jesus. If you don’t know Jesus then you have no guidance,” he said. Meanwhile, investigators said they are looking for two suspects but claimed yesterday that the investigation might have been compromised because CCTV footage of the robbery was aired on television. Police believe the suspects have gone into hiding or left the country as a result of the airing of the footage.