Step-mom sends direct message to Killer

During a candlelight vigil, Michelle Dawson aimed directly at the heart of the murderer who gunned down her step-son Ashburn ‘Ashie’ Dawson near the Sunday Morning Well in Road Town on March 10.

She delivered a strong reprimand and appeal as she addressed a relatively large crowd gathered across the road from where 30-year-old Dawson was cut down while on a motorcycle.

The step-mother tells THE MURDERER:

“I want you the murderer of our son and brother to know that Ashie was more than your vendetta, more than your revenge, or your hate.

He was our son, our brother, a father, grandson, nephew, uncle, cousin, friend, and co-worker.

He was generous, intelligent, funny, kind, handsome, ostentatiously charming, confident, and hard-working.

It is our belief that Ashburn’s existence and endearing qualities were a threat to you.

You valued him more than yourself or your family. That is evident in the time you spent plotting to take his life instead of improving yours.

Your cowardly, selfish, and heartless action is that of a depraved sick mind or maybe just a lost soul.

Taking his life has not helped you; you did not win. Hate and evil did not win.

You’ve put our loved-one’s body to rest but his spirit lives; it lives.

Our heartaches, our tears, our memories are a testament to his enduring life and legacy.

We will celebrate him everyday. We will love him everyday. He will be better than you everyday.

In closing, I would be remiss if I fail to also tell you that you too are grey to the same measure of grace, mercy and love.

Forgiveness was your way out.

And it’s the same forgiveness that our family and the BVI community will need to invoke in order to forgive you for the trauma you’ve caused us all.

I pray you turn yourself in and ask for forgiveness.

That’s courage; that’s bravery; and that is putting grace and mercy and the love of God to intended use.

Failure to do so will forever encase you with a tomb of guilt and fear until you are caught and locked away.”