Father: Daron had a huge heart of kindness

Tyrone Jack believes that his son’s kindness and faith in the goodness of man may have been a factor in his death.{{more}}

Tyrone expressed the view while delivering a tribute to his son Daron Jack on Friday, October 15, at Daron’s funeral service at the Wilson Hill New Testament Church in Kingstown.

Daron, a former student of the St. Mary’s Roman Catholic School and the St. Vincent Grammar School, was a final year engineering student at the Virginia State University (VSU) in Virginia, USA, when he was murdered on Monday, October 4.

Showing tremendous strength throughout the funeral, Jack, who also spoke on behalf of his wife, Joanne Ince-Jack, Daron’s mother, said from an early age, he and his wife taught their only child to treat persons with dignity.

The bereaved father said his 23-year-old son “took this to the extreme” and had a huge heart of kindness and believed in the goodness of man. He said Daron was loving, caring, trustful and upbeat.

Virginia police say that Daron was found severely beaten, late on Monday, October 4, in an off- campus apartment. He later died at the Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center.

Police arrested 26-year-old Deondray Maddox two days later, and charged him with first degree murder in connection with Daron’s death. Police say Maddox was an acquaintance of Daron. Maddox is being held in the Petersburg jail pending a November court date.

Tyrone, a pharmacist, and this country’s Drug Inspector, told the congregation that when he and his wife reminded their son of the need to be mindful of the company he kept, he would tell them that everyone has some measure of goodness.

Tyrone said his son automatically considered the friends of his friends to be his friends, and opened up the family home to them all. He shared his food, video games, the family computer, everything with them.

When questioned, Tyrone said Daron would tell his mother, “They were hungry. I want to keep them out of trouble.”

Tyrone said his son seemed intent on taking up the cause of the more underprivileged and less fortunate and this character trait was exploited by some.

“Sadly it seems, it is this type of blind kindness that was a factor in his death,” Tyrone said.

Daron was extremely gifted in several sporting disciplines and his father spoke proudly of his son’s exploits on the tennis court. He said as a child, his son was given the nickname “Butters” because he was chubby, but in his late teens, he transformed into the “6ft-1 inch athletic figure” which God had shown him in a vision, before Daron was even conceived.

Tyrone said he last saw his son in May 2010, when he visited the VSU campus for a tennis tournament in which Daron was playing. His last conversation with Daron was on Thursday, September 30.

“He spoke with a level of maturity that I had longed to hear from him,” Tyrone said of his son. He said Daron declared that he was at a “good place these days,” and felt good in body and spirit. Tyrone said Daron ended that final conversation by saying, “I love you too Daddy, I love you.”

Despite everything, Tyrone said being a believer, he takes strength from Romans 8:28 – “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to his plan.”

Other members of the Ince and Jack family paid tributes to Daron including Kimol Ince (read by Joseph Ince), Arlene Williams-Jack and Kamali Jack. The sermon was preached by Reverend Dr. Juliet Samuel of the New Testament Church. A special song was rendered by Belinda Samuel.