Man stabbed to death

Ashley Prescott says that persons on social media and in other forums who are saying bad things about his slain cousin, King Colinford Mattis, could not have known the dead man or else they would have nothing negative to say about him.

Mattis, a returning national and former painter, was found dead in the yard of his Green Hill,{{more}} Vermont home on Saturday, April 11 around 5:30 a.m. The 61-year-old retiree, pronounced dead at the scene, died of stab wounds.

“Persons who saying bad things, I left them up to God. Mattis was not a political man; he was a kind man. Kindness was his name and I don’t believe people would say bad things; he was just a kind man, love to do kind things, he was just kind,” stressed Prescott who added that he is yet to come to grips with his cousin’s murder.

Following the report of the murder, persons took to Facebook and began politicizing the murder, with some of the comments hinting that Mattis’ murder was a kind of poetic justice as a result of his siblings’ support of the ruling Unity Labour Party (ULP).

But Prescott stressed that Mattis, with whom he grew up and knew all his life, did not engage in politics and had only love for humanity.

“He was such a nice guy. If you was going down the road, you didn’t even have to ask him for a ride. He would stop and give you a ride. He used to go down the road at 3’o clock and as much kids could hold in his jeep he would drop them going and coming,” recalls Prescott.

“He just wanted to treat people right. He would give people money, buy food for people,” said Prescott, who also noted, “We were very, very close; people use to say we were brothers.”

Prescott revealed that on July 11, 1971, he (Prescott) migrated to the United States and three years after, he invited Mattis to join him.

“I got a job for him in the Union I was working in. I worked there for 31 years and he worked for 25 years. We did painting and other things and we even worked on the Statue of Liberty when they redid it in 1985,” recalls Prescott who noted that Mattis later fathered two children and bought a house in the US.

“…after he retired he said that he was not staying in America and he came home in 2008. I came in 2006 and he even lived with me before he built his house in Vermont…. We were very close and even lived two blocks apart in New York. We worked on every subway in New York,” Prescott said, while fighting to hold back his tears.

On Monday, Prescott told SEARCHLIGHT that he last spoke to Mattis the Friday before he died.

“I met him Friday evening at around 2 p.m. down the road and we talk and I asked him where he went and he say he went down the road to get some fish and he gave me some fish… I did not see the things on Facebook, but from what I hearing, I don’t think people could say so. Saying they glad he dead? If you go down in Vermont and interview anybody, nobody had nothing bad to say about Mattis.

“I just came from the supermarket and a lady stopped me and said that she was going home and Mattis met her and stopped and gave her a ride home. That was the kind of man he was. He once met a nurse on the road and turned around and dropped her to work; that’s how kind he was. He was a very kind man and that’s the stories you would normally hear about him, acts of kindness.

“I feel very, very bad; from where I live I could see his house. I would see his car and lights. I heard about the incident at 7 a.m. Saturday and I said no, that can’t be Mattis, so I went to the scene and saw him on the ground and it made me feel so bad. Up to now I can’t come to grips,” Prescott offered.

He said that he has heard rumours that Mattis was killed by a drug addict and he thinks that he (Prescott) may have once encountered the accused man on his (Prescott) lands in the mountains.

“These guys are dangerous drug addicts. I met the same man on my lands in the mountain hunting once. The guy came from good family, but he doing bad things,” said Prescott who added that his cousin had a disability, in that he walked very slowly and would not have been able to flee from his attacker.

Mattis, who some people knew as ‘Mattie’ and others as ‘Friend-e,’ will be laid to rest on Saturday, April 25, after a funeral service at the Vermont Miracle Tabernacle Church, which will begin at 2:30 p.m.

“As much as the law could do, I want done,” said Prescott, who said he is looking for justice for his relative and friend.

Police, in a press release, said two persons are assisting with investigations and a post mortem will be performed on the body.