Mother of young soldier killed in explosion in state of shock 

The mother of 23-year-old Lance Corporal Kevon Samuel Nicholson who perished in the explosion at the army Base Camp Stephenson, Timehri on Thursday, remain in a state of shock and disbelief and she struggles to come to grips with his death.

Cheryl Nicholson known as ‘Aunty Donna’, said her son was known for his warm smile and good mannerism.

The soldier resided at Lot 11 Levi’s Dam Angoy’s Avenue in New Amsterdam; he visited his family last weekend and subsequently left for the base on Tuesday last.

Cheryl recalled the last time she saw her son.

“As soon as he hit the gate, he just keep smiling, so we would ask why he smiling so but he would just keep smiling. He’s a child like that. He’s very jolly,” Cheryl said amid tears.

On his last trip home, the young Lance Corporal took his mother shopping.

“While he was up here on Saturday we went shopping and he made sure we got everything we needed. For a long time, he didn’t go shopping with me but Saturday we went together and spent time together and he said, ‘Ma you get everything?’

“We came back home and just sat there gaffing and he said he got to back on Tuesday,” the tearful mother recalled.

Cheryl said she was not prepared to receive the heart-wrenching news on Thursday.

“He was so gentle and a mannerly young man. I never got a bad complain concerning him. God knows it all. All I could ask God is why?”

In December 2016, Nicholson lost another child tragically when her 22-year-old daughter Lonette Prince Nicholson was brutally murdered by her estranged husband.

The Lance Corporal leaves to mourn three siblings and his parents.

He was among three soldiers killed early Thursday when the fireworks they were preparing for destruction exploded at the Guyana Defence Force’s Base Camp Stephenson Arm Store Complex, Timehri, East Bank Demerara.

Nicholson joined the Force on 2017.06.07. Two soldiers, 17939 Sergeant Quincy Threlfall, 43, and 23867 Lance Corporal Paul Peters, 29, were also injured during the incident.

The GDF has launched a Board of Inquiry (BoI) into the circumstances surrounding the incident.