Mavado’s Mother ‘Ms. Pinny’ Has Died, Son Dantay Brooks To Be Sentenced On March 19
The mother of Dancehall artist Mavado, Elizabeth ‘Ms. Pinny’ Gordon, died suddenly at a hospital in Kingston last night, while the sentencing of his son Dantay Brooks has been postponed to March 19 after he was convicted for murder earlier this year.
“It was sudden, she wasn’t sick, so right now, this kinda sudden so the whole ah Cassava Piece feel it. People ah go miss Ms. Pinny, is a woman everybody love,” one source told DancehallMag.
Three years ago, Mavado released a tribute song, Mama, on the JA Productions’ Lighthouse riddim, to his mother where he sang that “man never lef yu on a boardside on the Gully, mi tek yu out”, an admission of his humble beginnings before superstardom.
In the song, he deejayed, “yu proud of your son, so me proud of myself, (yeah) she teach me fi pree over miself”. The video features visuals of his first trip to the African continent. “It was just the right thing to do, filming in Africa for a song called ‘Mama,’” Mavado told Boomshots, “since Mama Africa is mother to us all.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_9o5pLapqs
On Mother’s Day in 2018, Mavado shared an old photo with Gordon saying that it reminded him of the great things she did for him.
“So this world could talk about me today. Only father god knows that’s why I will always love you mama my boss,” he added in the Instagram post.
The deejay last shared a Twitter video of his mom in August 2020 as she recounted a story from his childhood.
https://twitter.com/mavado_gully/status/1289929620737806336?lang=en
Several Dancehall entertainers have lost their mothers over the last year including Shenseea’s mother in June 2020, followed by Beenie Man’s mother in September 2020, Dancing Rebel’s mother in October 2020, Black Queen’s mother in January 2021, and then Shabba Ranks’ mother last month. Meanwhile, Bounty Killer is still deeply grieving the loss of his mother nine years ago.
Dantay
Mavado’s loss is compounded by the impending sentencing of his teenaged son, Dantay Brooks, in the Home Circuit Court which has been postponed to March 19.
Brooks and his co-accused Andre Hinds were found guilty on January 27, of the 2018 murder of Lorenzo Thomas in the St Andrew community of Cassava Piece, illegal possession of firearm, and arson. They face the possibility of a life sentence in prison.
Brooks’ lawyer, Peter Champagnie asked for time to look over the social enquiry report which he received this morning and for the prosecution to make adjustments to the victim impact statement.
In a statement posted to Instagram on Wednesday, February 3, the singer broke his silence on his son’s conviction, and first expressed “gratitude to all the fans, friends and family who said positive and encouraging words throughout this terrible time”.
“Corruption, corruption, corruption. Jah know star!” Mavado declared, while complaining that his teenaged son and Hinds were unfairly treated.
Prosecutors in the case had relied on the eyewitness testimony of Thomas’ father, who indicated that he knew his son’s killers from the community. They presented evidence that Brooks and Hinds were among five men who entered Thomas’ house and shot him before pushing his father into another room. The father also testified that he witnessed the gang’s attempts to sever his son’s head with a dull machete. After that failed, one person emptied a gun into Thomas’ head and then torched the house and body.
Attorney Champagnie has hinted that the legal team will request a review of the matter in the Jamaican Court of Appeal after sentencing.