A mother is demanding answers after her son, an electrician in training, was electrocuted on Saturday morning, while on a job.
Jomarie Lanza spoke with his mother:
What would have been just another quick electrical job for 23 year old Fresh Pond resident Terrel Matura, ended up being his last, on Saturday morning. He climbed into the attic of this two storey home, to work on the wiring, after he was asked to repair two outlets in the bathroom.
The homeowner suggested that he turned off the power inside the home, but Terrel assured her that he would be fine.
ACP Hilberto Romero, OCED
"On Saturday 27th of January, police visited 8 Miles where information was received that a male person had been electrocuted. A complaint there reported that she had hired Tyler Matura 23 years, to do some electrical work and he went up into the ceiling to do repairs. Shortly thereafter she heard a scream and then she did not hear any other sound."
"She then climbed up the ladder to check on him and saw him gasping for air and unable to move. Assistance was sought and he was taken to the KHMH for treatment, but he passed away shortly thereafter."
The morning that Matura left home en route to 8 miles, his mother says she never suspected that something could have gone horribly wrong while he worked.
Monica Hemmans, Mother of deceased
"He was working there but apparently somebody else was working there also before him and he was supposed to do and LED light and fan and a connection and I don't know, you know, I was just, I was home and I got a call I heard my phone ringing and I was coming out of the bathroom and it stopped and start ringing again and my step daughter was calling me and I answered and then she told me that Terrel got shocked and I was like what? And her mom took the phone and then she told me, "Monica, Terrel got electrocuted and they are trying to resuscitate him." And so many things started running through my mind at the moment and."
"I don't know what happened but if there was something, such thing like that the switch box was on and he got shocked the breaker should have tripped, and it didn't."
And now a grieving mother is left with more questions than answers surrounding the death of her son. Terrell was in the process of finishing trade school, and his mother says that he was very knowledgeable and experienced in electrical work.
Monica Hemmans, Mother of deceased
"It just leaves me to wonder you know what exactly is happening there. I am asking BEL to go and inspect the house, i think I deserve as a mother to know what really happened up there and I'm not getting answers. Ik went there after with my electrician, and I asked for them to please let me go and see where my son died, let the electrician see what he was working on and they refused. They told me I could have gone yesterday which was Sunday but I wasn't up to it. I didn't get a call or anything else but I just want some answers. It was an accident, I understand and I know everybody reacts differently in an emergency when they are frightened but just tell me the truth let me know the truth what happened to my son. My son was a loving, caring person I just didn't realize how many lives he had impacted. It's like the calls i've been getting, people who come to visit me and my family and when they start telling me their stories about Terrel its just amazing. I am blessed to had him for 23 years."
Terrel leaves behind a daughter
According to a police report, the home owner Darlene Williams, she cautioned Matura to turn off the home's main power switch before he started to work, but he allegedly told her it was only 110 volts and if anything it would just be "ah lee pinch." He was electrocuted shortly after climbing into the attic.
We note that the family tells us that Matura's biological father also passed away several years ago on the same day his son died, January 27th.
