Spiritual Baptist Archbishop, church member perish at Gordon Yard

Several families are mourning the loss of their loved ones, following a vehicular accident on Sunday that resulted in the death of two persons and hospitalization of two others.

Laverne Young, 50 and Pastor Frank Simon, 60 both died after the vehicle they were travelling in, plunged over an embankment in the Gordon Yard area.

They were on their way to a Spiritual Baptist thanksgiving ceremony in Chateaubelair, where Pastor Simon was expected to preside over the ceremony.

“It’s not an easy thing to deal with,” Evard Young, Young’s husband said. “If she was sick in bed and she just pass, it might’ve been different feelings but you see…what done finish already, you can’t change it.”

Ezra Pompey, nephew of deceased Laverne Young, has back pain and no feeling at all in his left leg.

He described his wife, who is a mother of two, as a faithful woman who liked many things.

And as he reflected on the loss of his wife, he said, that it could have been his entire family, as they usually travel with the driver to attend church and other functions.

The driver of the vehicle, Ezra Pompey was hospitalized following the accident.

He told SEARCHLIGHT yesterday that he was attempting to turn the corner in Gordon Yard when he felt the brakes of the vehicle drop in, causing him to lose control.

The 35-year-old said that he usually drove Laverne and the others, adding that he did not like driving on the roads on the Leeward side of the island.

Pompey, who is also Laverne’s nephew, said that he has back pain and no feeling at all in his left leg.

Onlookers at the accident scene at Gordon Yard in North Leeward, where Spiritual Baptist Archbishop Frank Simon and church member Laverne Young last their lives. (Photo Source: Rochelle Baptiste).

“The doctor said I might have damaged a vein,” Pompey said as he pointed at his left hip and down to his toes.

When SEARCHLIGHT contacted Pastor Simon’s sister, Shermaine Edwards, she said that she did not want to speak at the moment.

But she said that he was her oldest brother and that she was devastated to lose him.

Pastor Simon preached at the St Peter’s Baptist Church in Calder and has two sons.

Reports are that another passenger was hospitalized following the accident.