By PAVEL BAILEY
Tribune Staff Reporter
pbailey@tribunemedia.net
A MOTHER testified about how she urged her mentally challenged son to plead guilty to a crime in the hope he would receive treatment, only to learn weeks later that he had died alone in a prison cell after following her advice.
Rose Miller testified on Friday in the murder trial of Diallo Williamson, who is accused of causing the death of 29-year-old inmate Mikhail Miller at the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services on November 1, 2021. The deceased was found unresponsive in his cell.
Ms Miller said the last time she saw her son was in court on October 8, 2021, after she searched for him at a police station and was told he was in court. She said her son was mentally challenged and that she was trying to get him help. She recalled being told that if her son pleaded guilty – to a crime that wasn’t revealed in court – the judge could refer him to Sandilands.
Ms Miller said she urged him to plead guilty, and he did, resulting in a three-month prison sentence. She recalled telling him, “Son, I love you, but I need you to get help”.
Ms Miller said Judge Turnquest told her Sandilands was no longer taking people at the time because of the COVID-19 pandemic, but there would be a letter sent so her son could get help while in prison.
Before he was remanded, Ms Miller said she hugged him and told him she loved him. She cried softly as she said that was the last time she saw him alive, adding that he smiled at her that day.
She described him as mannerly, with an infectious smile, but said he could become aggressive without his medication. She said a neighbour had previously suggested she take him to Sandilands. Ms Miller also said a blood sample indicated the marijuana he smoked was laced, and she said he suffered from psychosis, heard voices, and sometimes went out at night.
She told the court she repeatedly tried to get him on the right path and sought counselling and spiritual guidance. She also said that before his incarceration, he was bound to keep the peace after repeatedly calling a neighbour’s daughter his wife, and that he had wanted to be a police officer.
Ms Miller said she tried to contact the prison before his death to find out whether he needed anything. She said that on November 1, 2021, she received two calls from a strange number. When she answered the second call at a grocery store, she recalled the prison chaplain telling her, “I am on my way to the morgue, your son is dead”.
Ms Miller said she passed out in the store and, when she came to, she wept uncontrollably. She said her daughter later picked her up, and she told her that her brother had died. Ms Miller said she struggled to tell her younger son, and later told him after he realised something was wrong. She recalled him asking how his brother had died.
She said she did not sleep that night, but opened her Bible and read scripture.
Ms Miller said she had never been told her son was sick or informed of his health condition in prison. She said she went to the prison on November 2 seeking answers and asked to speak with Doan Cleare, now Commissioner of BDCS, but was told to return the following day after a call. Ms Miller said she questioned Mr Cleare about what happened and said she still does not understand.
She said she identified her son’s body at the morgue on November 4. Ms Miller said she did not recognise him at first when she saw the photograph, but recognised him when she saw his eyes. She said his head was the size of a coconut and that he had a laceration under his eye.
At the end of her testimony, Ms Miller asked for a moment to compose herself as she wept into her hand. The defendant told her everything was going to be alright as she passed him in the prisoner’s dock while leaving court.
The prosecution is led by Gary Rolle III and Kara Butler-White. Dorsey McPhee represents the defence.
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