NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Mourning relatives of 21-year-old Omar Davis say Omar was killed by someone he knew well.
Omar’s grandaunt, Michelle Farrington, told reporters her nephew was the victim of unfortunate circumstances.
“In spite of the circumstances, he didn’t deserve it,” she said.
She was among dozens of relatives who went to Restview Memorial yesterday where they saw a picture of the man they knew as the life of the family.
“The reason being (for the murder) is that because of circumstances and it is unfortunate circumstances that occurred between him and this individual and they were known to each other and that’s the reason why it’s unfortunate that they took his life away from him and he had a bright future, he had an excellent, bright future,” Farrington said.
Asked how Davis and the person knew each other, she said: “They would have known each other personally. That’s the only thing I could say but it was unbeknown to the family but they knew each other. So we are gathering as much information as everybody else.”
Police said four adult men between 20 and 56 are in custody for the death.
Farrington said the family met police yesterday morning and left satisfied that charges will be brought soon.
Omar’s body was found in a garbage bag in his car in bushes off East Avenue on Tuesday.
The relatives had been concerned about Omar’s whereabouts because none of them had spoken to him since Monday morning.
They were already anxiously searching for him when Eyewitness News went live with news of the discovery of a body on Facebook Tuesday evening, leading them to the scene.
Farrington suggested that when they initially sought police help, they were encouraged to wait longer before Omar could be declared missing.
“We know Omar,” she said. “If we don’t hear from him (something is wrong). He answers all calls and we realised that something was wrong.
“So we had to set up our little investigation and we had all the families who had a vehicle, we were traveling from east, west, north, and south looking for his vehicle. When we finally got in the area, we saw y’all live. Y’all lead us right there.”
Shaniece Rahming, Omar’s aunt, said she last spoke with her nephew around 11am on Monday to ask him when he was leaving the country to work abroad.
She said around 5pm that evening Omar’s mother called her asking if she heard from her son.
“(She) asked me Mary, you hear from Omar? I said no, let me call him on his phone. Because if you call him on his phone, his phone here, and he here. So you’re not answering your phone, what happen? Why you’re not answering your phone? I called him all night. I wake up 4am I said Shenique Omar come home yet, she said no. So I said you call the police station? They say they ain see him, they call the hospital, they ain see him.”
Davis was a poster boy for people who overcame traumatic experiences and obstacles to find success and he seemed destined for greater achievements.
He graduated valedictorian of his high school in 2018 and received a full scholarship for college.
He attended Central State University in Ohio from where he graduated earlier this year with a 4.0 GPA and a history of receiving top awards. The president of the university, Dr Jack Thomas, released a statement yesterday calling Omar a “cherished member of the honors community.”
Omar did a double major in accounting and finance and was set to move to Atlanta within weeks for a job at Deloitte.
However, before all of his successes, his father, Omar Davis Sr, was killed in Kemp Road in 2013.
The two had been exceptionally close, according to Rahming.
Davis talked publicly about his father’s impact on him while accepting an award from the Ministry of Education in 2018.
He said he saw his father’s lifeless body in his home and suggested the death sometimes discouraged him and made him want to drop out of school.
“His voice kept playing in my head, ‘short man, never be like me when you grow up’,” he said.
