Pastor’s mom faints

The limp woman was moved out of the Industry Public Cemetery by relatives and placed in a car shortly after the coffin was placed at the bottom of the grave and buried by grave diggers. The burial came after an emotion-filled funeral service at the nearby D’Abadie Pentecostal Church which was attended by Khan’s friends and family including his son Ezra, 18, who was wounded in the incident which led to the pastor’s death.

At about 2.25 am on New Year’s Day, Khan, 52, was shot dead at his Mausica Road, D’Abadie, home. He was shot once in the chest. His son was also shot in his neck and jaw and was rushed to the Arima District Health Centre.

He was transferred to the San Fernando General Hospital (SFGH) where he was warded in critical but stable condition. The family delayed Pastor Khan’s funeral until his son was strong enough to attend. As soon as the service ended, Ezra was returned to hospital.

At the cemetery, Pastor Khan’s sister Zoreena Chadee said she couldn’t understand why someone would kill her brother, that it made no sense. Khan’s mother Theresa stood near her son’s grave sobbing quietly and supported by female family members while others surrounded the coffin.

As grave diggers began to shovel dirt into the grave, Theresa fainted and was carried to a vehicle.

The murdered man’s best friend Pastor Christopher Toppin, who also gave the sermon at the funeral service, told Newsday the Khan family is really struggling to come to terms with the murder of their loved one and the near murder of Ezra whose condition Topping described as “very frail”.

Toppin said the service was well attended by friends, family, and well wishers including co-workers from the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex, and persons from all over the country whose lives were touched by Pastor Khan’s sermons.

“He was my best friend. He is irreplaceable. There was no one in my life quite like him. In the 15 years that I knew him, I never heard him say one harsh word and if he corrected you, he did so with love. He was every man’s best friend,” Toppin said.