Reliable worker and doting dad - Colleagues remember FAME jock DJ Venom

A father who doted on his daughter, the quintessential Kingston College (KC) old boy, a dependable friend, and somebody who you would definitely want on your team was the collective description of the late radio personality and disc jockey DJ Venom.

Venom, 40, real name Raymond Peart, died in a crash last night after the motorcycle he was driving struck a pedestrian, University of Technology student Abigale Rowe, on the Spanish Town Bypass last night. Rowe, 21, also died.

FAME FM personality Debbie Bissoon described the passing of her colleague as “surreal”. Bissoon, who struggled to hold back her tears, and oftentimes failed, shared with The Gleaner what would eerily turn out to be her very last conversation with the jock.

According to Bissoon, the host of entertainment programme ‘eBlaze’, DJ Venom was in studio with her on Monday afternoon when he reacted in shock to the first item of news that she read – the theatre industry mourning the passing of playwright Paul O. Beale. “I read it, and Venom stops what he’s doing and he’s totally shocked because he was hearing it for the first time. He said, ‘It’s so weird,because I lost two people who were close to me on the weekend.’ My response was, ‘2019 has been so rough’,” a distraught Bissoon recalled.

Tearfully, she related that when she was leaving the studio, her confident words were, “Tomorrow, Ven.”

When Bissoon saw the post made by another colleague about Venom’s passing, it was her turn to react in shock.

“I immediately called Arif and said, ‘This is a joke’. It’s surreal. I can’t wrap my mind around it,” Bissoon said.

She continued, “I think about his daughter. He’s always talking about her and how much he wants to be a role model for her. Undoubtedly, he was one of the most talented persons in terms of music. He was so full of life and seemed to be waiting on an opportunity to do more.”

FAME FM disc jock Whizkid told The Gleaner that he was the person who got the shattering call on Monday night when the police were on the scene trying to locate Venom’s next of kin. “They had called the office, and the security put them through to me,” he shared.

A sombre Whizkid said that he last spoke to Venom on Saturday. “He was playing at the KC event at Constant Spring Golf Club because you know anything to do with KC, him go all out. His hair is purple this very minute because he did it purple for the event,” he said of the 40-year-old jock, who he described as “a St Thomas man who had so many hilarious stories to tell about the country” that you always wanted to be in his company.

He added that his thoughts are with DJ Venom’s daughter. “His daughter is his world. She’s only 10, and she doesn’t have her daddy anymore. She idolises him. He has been riding for years, but when his daughter was born, he actually stopped riding his bike. He started back months ago because he is still waiting on his car ,which is in the shop,” he said, speaking of his deceased colleague mainly in the present tense.

“I worked the five-to-nine shift this morning, and I can tell you that my mind was nowhere near Lyndhurst Road,” a shaken Whizkid said.

SIGNIFICANT LOSS

Kalisha Lawrence of the RJRGLEANER Communications Group was no less emotional as she tried to come to terms with the death of her colleague. “This is a significant loss. It is a very sombre mood over here right now. We are trying to make sense of this,” she said.

Lawrence noted that DJ Venom “was a brilliant and very easy-going individual who you would definitely want on your team. He was always reliable, punctual, and receptive to corrections”.

The RJRGLEANER Communications Group yesterday said it was deeply saddened by the death of Peart, who had just completed his 5 p.m.-9 p.m. shift, and expressed sympathies to the families, friends, and colleagues of both deceased.

yasmine.peru@gleanerjm.com