SANDHILL–Gilbert Dawson, a mechanic and resident of Gardenia Village, left his home sometime yesterday evening and had been socializing with friends in Sandhill.
Around 8:00 this morning, Monday, a resident from the Mile 19 community on the Old Northern Highway found Dawson lying face-down on the road, apparently dead on a Sandhill feeder road.
In a police press release, Dawson’s death was classified as a “sudden death.”
That classification, however, may be incorrect in the absence of a post-mortem result.
Inspector Frederick Gordon, the officer commanding Ladyville police, told Amandala tonight, “A post-mortem has to be done to confirm the cause of death.”
Gordon added, “There were no signs of violence on Dawson’s body and to the best of my belief, Dawson suffered from hypertension, but the police cannot say it’s a sudden death until the post-mortem is completed tomorrow, Tuesday, or Wednesday.”
Dean Dawson, one of Gilbert Dawson’s nephews, who also lives in Gardenia, told Amandala that he felt that his uncle was murdered.
According to Dean, he had a dream last night that his uncle was murdered and, he said, “that’s why I came out here.”
Dawson’s wife, Alice Dawson, found it hard to accept that her husband probably died of a natural cause. She told Amandala that she wants to get a blood sample from her husband and have it analyzed, “because he was drinking and someone could have put something in his drink.”
Anglican Cathedral College principal Ismael Requeña, a close friend of Dawson, said, “I went by his house yesterday, me and my compadre, Mr. Armstrong, and we socialized for about two hours.”
Requeña said that he was surprised when Dawson’s wife called him this morning and told him that “Mr. Gilbert dead.”
“After we left his house, we decided to come to Sandhill,” Requeña, who lives in Sandhill, said.
Requeña admitted that his friend suffered from hypertension, but said that yesterday, he didn’t complain about the condition. “In fact, he told us that he was feeling well,” Requeña said.
Requeña said that he was saddened by the way Dawson died.
“I have lost a very good friend and his family has lost a very loving father, and the community has lost a very good mechanic,” Requeña said, “because when I went there, he was actually working on his vehicle.”
Dawson was found outside his vehicle; his wife said that his body looked blue and ants were already all over his body.
The post-mortem on Dawson’s body will determine whether he died of natural causes or if police will have to investigate another homicide.
