Coroner’s court: Drowned man died by misadventure

The death of an initially unidentified Jamaican man who drowned after getting caught up by rough currents off Spotts Dock, George Town, is said to have died by misadventure.

The deceased, Rovyn Jerone Cameron, is said to have rolled up his pants before walking out into the water fully clothed, in sight of a handful of beachgoers on the evening of 28 Aug. 2023.

“He continued to walk further and further out, but then he went under the water for a very long time before coming back up twice,” according to a witness statement that was read out by Chief Magistrate Angelyn Hernandez for the jury of six women and one man at an 8 April hearing.

According to that statement, the water was rough, and so the witness and her group of friends decided to stay out of the water. However, when they realised that the man was in trouble, they sprang into action.

“When he came back up the second time he stuck his hands out, before going back under slowly, then he didn’t come back up,” Hernandez read.

The statement revealed that the woman and her friends swam out to save the drowning man, who was found face down underwater, and brought him back to shore where they administered CPR and called police.

“While transporting him to the hospital by ambulance we did revive him, but there was a very short period of time before he started showing signs of cardiac arrest again,” said Julian Schoefer, an emergency medical technician with the Health Services Authority.

According to Schoefer, Cameron, 21, had no identification on him, which led to him being designated as a John Doe for several days before police were able to confirm his identity.

The jurors heard that two days after Cameron’s death, he was reported missing by his grandfather, who was informed by police of the unknown male victim. His grandfather is said to have then made the positive ID.

“We don’t know how long he was on island, we do not know his state of mind, and we also do not know if he could swim,” said Hernandez, when recapping the case.

After several minutes of deliberation, the jury returned a unanimous verdict of death by misadventure.