To hear his friends tell his story, a young life full of potential ended tragically in a hospital emergency room after falling sick at the jail where he was being held in Atlanta on April 9th 2018.
Young Chikumbutso Madzi met an American young lady Kaliah Ifé Crouch while she was living in Malawi. After getting married the two eventually travelled to US. Kaliah wanted us to know that her husband was very outgoing and easily made friends everywhere he went and loved music.
At some point Chikumbutso was jailed for reasons exactly unknown to friends. Some suspect it was to do with driving while intoxicated. However whatever the reasons the young Chiku was unable to raise funds to post bail and to the best guesses he had been in jail since September of last year.
Friends who had lost touch with Chikumbutso since his incarceration were horrified and shocked to hear of his passing from his wife Kaliah Crouch. His parents were also notified around April 9th of the passing of their son in the United States.
According to Kaliah her husband fell ill while in jail. The prison authorities transported him to a hospital in the Atlanta area where he passed away while in the emergency room. At the moment the prison authorities have not revealed the cause of death to her and the Family.
Sharing on WhatsApp Mr Madzi the father of Chiku made the following appeal:
“Hello everyone, this is Chiku’s father. It was on Monday April 9th that we received the sad news about the death of our loved one in the United States. As a father I had never felt so helpless in my life, as you may all know from the reason for forming this forum that our family is going through some financial difficulties at the moment, which have hindered us from being able to bring my son’s body home ourselves. I had no idea of how my son was going to get buried, in fact I had no idea if he was going to get buried at all. But indeed God is not a man that he should fail, and he performs miracles in ways we can’t even imagine.
It has only been 3 days now but so much has been done for him. I on behalf of our entire family in Malawi, I’m truly and sincerely grateful for the love you have shown us as human beings and as a family. Words cannot express how grateful I am for your unlimited assistance and we cannot repay you for what you have done for us, but only God can recompense for this kindness. May he add multiple times where you remove and may he abundantly bless each and every one who has contributed and plans to contribute to this forum whether by the money or by the time they put in? You will forever be in our prayers. God Bless you all, thank you.”
Upon hearing of his death, Malawians in Atlanta organized a fund raiser with the goal of raising enough money to be able to repatriate his remains home. So far about 75% of the funds have been raised but appeals continue to all Malawians in the USA and Diaspora to support the fund raiser effort so that his remains can be sent home to his Family.
For those that want to support the effort contributions can be made using the information below
