Several months before he and his cousin were fatally shot, Razi Garland dreamt of becoming a psychologist, a career he thought was necessary to counsel the island’s teenagers through high school.

“I want to do psychology, I want to put young people in a position to do things productive, like directing them to like workshops, work programmes show them, like different trades,” Mr Garland said.

The 18-year-old and his 19-year-old cousin, Amon Robinson, lost their lives in a shooting in the Scaur Hill area of Sandys at about 6.05am on July 10.

When asked for an update on the men’s demise, a spokesman for the Bermuda Police Service said there was no further detail on the incident.

Ten months ago, the two teenagers appeared on a podcast on the YouTube channel, The Black Excellence Club and spoke about their journeys through school at The Berkeley Institute.

The duo spoke of the challenges at school during the pandemic.

Mr Garland, who appeared upbeat during the interview, said he was always proactive about his schoolwork.

He said attending school virtually during the pandemic was difficult but he had managed to push through.

“I tried my best,” he told the host.

He said: “I was doing mathematics and doing English and getting my schoolwork out the way.”

After high school, he was accepted into both the Bermuda College and St John’s University.

Along with acceptance letters, he was granted more than $100,000 in scholarship funding from St John’s University, The Centennial Bermuda Foundation, and The H. Sinclair R. White Scholarship.

During the interview, the teenager, who was featured in The Royal Gazette after The Berkeley Institute’s graduation ceremony last year, said he felt “good about being in the newspaper”.

He said he was preparing to pursue studies at St John’s.

Speaking of his career plans, the teenager recounted that during his childhood years, he had wanted to be a civil engineer.

He said: “Building and all that always fascinated me when I was younger.”

However, things changed during high school, he added.

He said the civil engineer field “was my pathway and as I grew up, in this age nowadays, I see a decrease in the drive of the young people my age, starting from middle school”.

He added: “It’s cemented in their heads what they want to do, it’s in their head. As if they are stuck on something.”

He said this fuelled his drive to pursue psychology, a field which he said would assist him in making a difference in the lives of teenagers, enabling him to “really make those connections with the children and the parents”.

Mr Robinson also had plans to enhance his academic qualifications.

He said he had been working on community projects in Devonshire, for which he thanked Christopher Famous, the government MP.

Mr Robinson said he was good at landscaping and painting.

Both young men noted that they were skilled in renovating properties.

Mr Garland said he was also a gifted landscaper and if his studies did not materialise, he had a back-up plan.

He said: “If psychology don’t work out, I can start a landscaping company and hire people.”

He added: “We can grow it and grow it from a young age, that’s if push come to shove.”

He said it was always important “to have a back-up plan”.

At the time, he said he was planning to land a full-time job.

He said that for his internship after high school, he had worked with a start-up firm, where he managed the company’s social-media accounts.

However, he said it was challenging to work for the firm since it was still maturing as a company.

Mr Robinson then offered some advice.

He said: “In life, no matter what, just keep on going.”

Mr Garland agreed: “I learnt in my life to always keep your head up, know that everything happens for a reason, and just always have a plan, always set goals and no matter what anybody says to you, always stay true to yourself.”

He added: “Always know what you want to do and don’t let nobody else’s actions deter you from your dreams and life.”

Speaking on his time at high school, Mr Garland said the push to attend college to get work did not need to apply to everyone.

Days after their deaths, Detective Sergeant Anneka Donawa, the senior investigating officer, made another appeal to anyone with any information to come forward.

Ms Donawa can be reached on 717-2250 or at adonawa@bps.bm.

Information can also be provided through the BPS online community reporting portal, portal.police.bm.

Alternatively, anonymous tips can be sent via the independent and confidential Crime Stoppers Bermuda hotline, 800-8477, or the Crime Stoppers Bermuda website, www.crimestoppers.bm.

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