Miles Myrie, the 20-year-old son of reggae-dancehall icon Mark ‘Buju Banton’ Myrie, has died
Buju himself shared the heartbreaking news on Instagram, along with photo of his son, captioned with the words “Sip papa God knows.”
Jahazeil Myrie, another son of Buju Banton, confirmed the tragic news to Observer Online on Monday.
“Yes it is true. It is not my thing to say, it is not my job personally to give out any personal information about Miles, my father is the one who should share any details, but Miles is an hortical yute, his soul was clean, so I had to say something.”
Miles, who was residing in the United States at the time of his passing, had a significant influence on his brother Jahazeil.
“We grow up together one ah the time dem, and he always would motivate me to never give up. He was a very motivational person no matter wah. When he was younger, he wanted to be a judge but as he got older, he got to love the rapping so he wanted to be a rapper.”
Amidst the wave of condolences, a video surfaced online featuring a woman blaming Buju for Miles’ tragic fate.
In an emotional testimony, she revealed that Miles had been under her care for two months due to homelessness. She also spoke about his struggles with potential mental health issues.
The woman also criticized Buju Banton’s other sons, whom she claimed she contacted to pick up Miles from her home and take him to the hospital.
“Mi watch them pick him up from my yard in a one nice truck,” she said. “They were suppose to take him to the hospital, they already knew he was troubled, they knew he had issues. This is a kid that they said been in and out of [Juvenile detention], been in an out of hospital.”
The woman’s frustration reached its peak as she questionedwhy Buju didnt bring Miles back to Jamaica.
“You did not bring your son home to Jamaica, you is Buju. You need to be held accountable for these kids. I gave this kid to them and they picked him up and they did not do their due diligence. They knew the true behavior of the kid and they did not take him to the hospital, they did not take him to help.”
