Slain warder leaves big shoes to fill
Published:Monday | November 7, 2022 | 12:08 AMAinsworth Morris/Staff Reporter
Elon Higgins, overseer of the Horizon Adult Remand Centre, called Sunday for investigators to double their efforts to arrest the perpetrators who killed correctional officer Shannon Briscoe three months ago.
Briscoe, 38, went missing on August 11 after last being seen en route to Half-Way Tree and Seaview Gardens. His corpse was discovered two days later in a gully in Seaview Gardens, St Andrew.
It is believed that Briscoe was moonlighting as a taxi operator at the time of his death.
Briscoe’s car was found in Trench Town and his bank card in an ATM in downtown Kingston on August 12.
Described Briscoe as disciplined and faultless, Higgins emphasised that it was critical to give the family closure.
“Those who have taken his life must pay the consequences!” Higgins said in a tribute on behalf of the Department of Correctional Services at a thanksgiving service at New Haven Seventh-day Adventist Church in St Andrew.
He also recalled how Briscoe impressed him with an evangelical service the first morning he took charge for a morning devotion with prisoners.
Briscoe joined the DCS in 2020 and was, said Higgins, the first from his batch to be given specialised duties.
“Briscoe was not an ordinary young officer. He touched lives,” Higgins said.
Higgins recalled how he threatend to dismantle the division of which Briscoe was part, but Briscoe and other staff went to his office seeking clarity. Briscoe begged him not to take action and self-appointedly took charge of the situation.
“Within weeks, I saw changes by the division,” Higgins said.
“Today, that division is better off because of Briscoe. Someone should step from that division, too, and step in Briscoe’s shoes,” Higgins said.
Sunday’s atmosphere inside the church was sombre as mourners gathered to pay their last respects to the Christian devotee they said was not worthy of a premature death.
The body of Briscoe laid in his grey correctional officer uniform and cap in a blue and white coffin draped with the Jamaican flag.
In tribute, Lorraine Harris, Briscoe’s church sister at the nearby Riverton Meadows Seventh-day Adventist Church, recalled recently when she and her husband had a flat tyre and ‘David’ – which some persons affectionately called Briscoe – came to their assistance within an hour.
“The Wednesday night before his passing, he was preaching a sermon that encouraged us to give God the glory … When I think of David, the other three attributes on the list are his love for God, his devotion to provide for his daughters, and his jovial personality,” she said.
His favourite song, Be Magnified, was performed at the funeral by his daughters Jada and Shantashia.
Harris also recalled how Briscoe worked hard to provide for his daughters, had a pleasant and warm embracing smile, and found his niche in calmly witnessing for Jesus.
Briscoe was also remembered by others as a mentor.
A powerful recorded prayer delivered by Briscoe was replayed at the service, drawing tears to some mourners as they heard his voice again.
Briscoe was born to Angela and Basil Briscoe on December 8, 1983. He attended Vere Technical High School in May Pen and migrated to Kingston immediately after completing his secondary education.