Cindy Looby, the sister of 35-year-old Justin Brooks, who also went by the aliases ‘Shakimba Bachelor’ and ‘Itroll’, continues to remember her brother two weeks after his unexpected death.
Antigua and Barbuda Coast Guard personnel recovered Brooks’ body from the waters at Point Wharf in the early morning of November 13.
Looby, who spoke to our newsroom, said that her brother mostly lived his life in the sister isle of Barbuda before he moved back to his birthplace Antigua in 2016.
“Justin was the last son of our mother — we are four children where I am the eldest — and he was born here [in Antigua] but Mommy went over to Barbuda and was working for the [Barbuda] Council so we wee basically living with our grandmother until ‘99, and after that, was when he went over,” she said.
She said that Brooks loved cricket and even played on a local team in Barbuda.
According to his sister, although he had been struggling with alcohol addiction, he received support from the family.
“We got him into Crossroads and he did a month there, then stay at their halfway house and he came back to live with me,” she explained.
Brooks was never married or had any children, but he loved his nieces and nephews, she said.
He was employed as a crew member on vessel that would transport goods and supplies between Antigua and the sister isle and would often assist fishermen with cleaning their catches of fish.
According to the sister, an official police report on the cause of her brother’s death remains outstanding.
She said that one of the tests that was reportedly done was for Covid-19.
Brooks would have celebrated his 36th birthday one day after his untimely death.
