Mother blames system for destroying her son’s mental health
A mother of a 27-year-old mentally ill man says the systems, procedures, and policies that are in place to protect and help are the ones that have negatively impacted her son.
Rhonda Williams, the mother of Kesroy Williams told SEARCHLIGHT on Thursday, June 11, 2026 that her son was not professionally treated by the health professionals.
Kesroy rose to public attention this year at the Serious Offences Court (SOC) after his ‘competency to stand trial’ report, relating to a gun possession charge, and which was done by Dr. Alisa Alvis, Dr. Micheal Stowe and Dr. Franklyn Joseph of the Mental Health Centre (MHC) was thrown out by Chief Magistrate Collin John.
Dr. Alisa is head of the Ministry of Health’s Mental Health Services, while Dr. Stowe and Dr. Joseph were responsible for writing Kesroy’s report that Dr. Alvis eventually signed off on. All the doctors told the Serious Offences Court, under oath, that they are not trained psychiatrists.
The report came up for scrutiny after lawyer Grant Connell, took up, pro bono, the case in which Kesroy, a Belair resident, is charged that on February 6, 2026, he had a prohibited weapon- a modified .32 firearm, and three rounds of .32 ammunition at his home.
This was the second time in about 18 months that Kesroy had appeared in court on a firearm charge. He was jailed in December, 2024 after pleading guilty to possession of a .38 pistol and ammunition. Back then a report from the MHC also said he was fit to stand trial.
In handing down his decision, the chief magistrate ordered that Kesroy be returned to the MHC for a new competency report which he said should be written by a psychiatrist.
Kesroy’s mother said her family’s nightmare began some time in 2014 when Kesroy was 15 and a student at the Emmanuel High School Mesopotamia (EHSM). She said he was taken before the Mesopotamia Magistrate’s Court after a run-in with policemen at her home in Belair. One of the officers involved was Renwick Cato (now a prosecutor at the SOC).
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