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The Slaying of A Sports Icon
posted (August 11, 2014)
Tonight, the cycling community and the wider society is reeling from the murder of one of our national sporting icons. Ernest Jawmeighan Meighan was killed on Saturday morning at the far end of George Street.

He was executed with indiscriminate precision, most likely as an act of retaliation for a crime he didn't commit. And just like that, the father of seven children and the subject of so many nationalist cycling fantasies was killed on a walkway over a drain: a tragic, unthinkable end for one of the country's best known sportsmen. 7News was on the scene, and Daniel Ortiz has the story:..

Daniel Ortiz reporting
42 year-old Ernest "Jawmeighan" Meighan was shot here in front of his girlfriend's house on George Street. He had just finished visiting his children, and was leaving. At around 11:35, he was getting into his vehicle when a gunman ambushed him shot him once in the back of the head.

He died 5 minutes later, while being rushed to the hospital.

Hon. Santiago Castillo Jr. - Friend of the Deceased
"As I took ... I need a break."(crying)

His family, friends, and indeed the entire country is now mourning his loss. One of those is his long- time friend, mentor, cycling partner and employer Santiago Castillo Jr., who thinks of Jawmeighan as a son.

Hon. Santiago Castillo Jr. - Friend of the Deceased
"On April 15th I lost Ernest "Dangalang" Thurton and yesterday August 9th I lost Ernest "Jawmeighan" Meighan."

Speculation is rampant at this time as to what may have caused his execution, but all agree that Jawmeighan wasn't in anyway personally connected to the street life. Still he and his common-law wife had received threats.

Hon. Santiago Castillo Jr. - Friend of the Deceased
"He mentioned to me, it was either Wednesday or Thursday that there were threats on both his and Marinetts's life. Well that threat was a real threat. As a matter of fact many of his friends told him of that threat. That threat was at Ordonez Bike Shop, that threat had been sent all over and he was told by many friends including me to be careful and to stay away from George Street."

Reporter
"And he refuse to do so."

Hon. Santiago Castillo Jr. - Friend of the Deceased
"He told me 'boss, I have my life to live, I can't hide for something I am not responsible for, I don't condone any actions of any of my children.' In no way did he condone anything that happened by anyone that was involved in any crime, any of his family members."

That very same strong familial connection, though, is what may be connected to his death.

Hon. Santiago Castillo Jr. - Friend of the Deceased
"Jawmeighan went there about quarter pass ten, received a phone call, went to the room and spoke to the person who called him, pick up his clothes which were wash. He picked up a 5 gallon to go filled it with water, he was in his truck, came down the steps, put it in his car, turned around to close the gate and he was shot in the back of the head. His 15 year old daughter was the first one to see him fall and called out to her mother who came done. She told me that Jawmeighan was still gasping for air when she held him and they ask some neighbors to take him to the hospital and by the time he got there he was dead."

In September 2009, Jawmeighan himself knew that same sense of loss, when he discussed the execution style murder of his brother, 37 year old Ellis "Pepper Gacho" Meighan Sr.

File: September 14, 2009
Ernest "Jawmaine" Meighan, Brother of Murder Victim

"I was shocked when I get the phone call, I said I could never believe somebody would kill my brother. I don't think so, not in that kind of way. He doesn't deserve something like that."

File: September 14, 2009
Ernest "Jawmeighan" Meighan

"After I heard my brother got shot I spoke to one of the police and they told me that they expected a retaliation long time for something which his son did. Police were expecting a retaliation long time but it just happened now because of some shooting or something that his son did and like the thing go, if you can't Harry you catch his shirt."

And "the shirt" they caught 5 years later may have been Jawmeighan:..

Hon. Santiago Castillo Jr. - Friend of the Deceased
"I would say that they took an innocent man's life. Jawmeighan is not involved in the world of gangs. Jawmeighan was not in involved in any kind of crime and quite this thing 'bout if I can't catch Peter, I will catch his shirt has to stop."

Castillo Jr's sentiments are echoed all across the cycling world, that the way he lived his life is not equivalent to the undignified and callous death he experienced. He was known as a family man, an entrepreneur, and an elite cycling athlete who rode professionally for over 2 decades.

Hon. Santiago Castillo Jr. - Friend of the Deceased
"Jawmeighan is like my son. We hang out together, we have a couple beers together, we ride together, he looks up to me like his father. He tells me his problems, I've known him for 25 plus years. He has been a rider on my elite team. He is a rider on my master's team. He has been a faithful employee of Santiago Castillo for over 10 years and words can't explain the loss for Jawmeighan."

And it is a loss we all feel. Here at 7News we've interacted with Jawmeighan so many times over the past two decades - and later on we'll look at his legacy as a cyclist and a two time cross country champion.

Ernest Jawmeighan Meighan, dead at 43.

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