After collecting the posthumous Order of Distinction in the rank of Commander award for his mother, the late journalist Barbara Jennifer Gayle, Neil Josephs said he was proud of the work his mother did and that he wished she were alive to receive the honour herself.

Gayle was found dead inside her Caymanas Estate home on December 17, 2024. Twenty-four-year-old Travis Ellis has been charged with her murder and is currently before the Home Circuit Court in downtown Kingston.

“I’m so excited to accept this award on behalf of my mother. I definitely couldn’t miss this for the world. I would rather her being here to collect this herself, but, unfortunately, things happen,” Josephs told Our Today.

“If she was here, she would have been so pleased and happy to achieve this award, and I’m very proud of her, and I’m very thankful,” he said.