Holding hands in prayer, the community gathered Sunday afternoon at Jumbo’s Restaurant in Liberty City to remember the two men slain when a drunk driver rammed his car into the restaurant.
Aljo Hamlin, 63, and Wilton Thomas Harris, 61, were killed last weekend as they dined at the popular eatery.
Police say 53-year-old Antonio Lawrence is facing DUI manslaughter charges after he lost control of his pick-up truck, slamming into a parked truck outside Jumbo’s. The second truck then crashed through the entrance of the restaurant killing the two men, officials said.
Jumbo’s owner, Bobby Flam, told NBC 6 he knew the two men for more than 40 years and considered them friends more than customers.
“I’m going to miss them a lot,” Flam said. “It’s been a very emotional week since we lost our dear friends and we thought it would be appropriate to try and bring the community together right where the accident happened.”
Edwena Howard, the ex-wife of Hamlin and mother of his four kids, said she was trying to stay strong for her sons and daughters.
“This was just a tragic thing that happened; it threw us all for a loop,” Howard said. “This is a place that he loved to come and it’s unfortunate, this is the place where he died.”
