AVON PARK — A steady procession of cars pulled up to the family home Tuesday on W.L. Kirkland Street to pay their respects to the family of Andrew Actavous Brown, 28, after he succumbed to his injuries Monday from a motorcycle crash.

Avon Park resident Frank Lyle Shearer, 33, was heading west on W.L. Kirkland approaching a stop sign in his Pontiac sedan as Brown approached the intersection headed south on Waldron Avenue. Waldron Avenue has no stop sign at W.L. Kirkland.

At about 6:50 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 19 Avon Park police say Brown hit the Pontiac broadside.

Brown’s mother, Marjorie Brown-Sewell, was in her home that night doing laundry when a girl she didn’t remember banged on her door yelling that Andrew Brown was in a crash at the corner and was badly hurt.

“Miss Marjorie, Miss Marjorie, somebody hit Andrew,” Brown-Sewell said, describing the bearer of bad news as jumping up and down with a cell phone raised above her head. “I don’t know, somebody took the laundry out of my hands and I ran out there.”

Neighbor Alvin Moore was sitting in his living room when he heard the the crash. His front door is about 20 feet from where they found Brown, badly injured, laying on the ground. He came outside to see what was going on. It was getting dark. There was a street light but the light had gone dim.

“The motorcycle was still running – wide open,” Moore said Tuesday. “I walked right up to him. We couldn’t tell who he was because there wasn’t enough light.”

There’s a street light directly over the spot, but it hasn’t been working very well for some time now, Moore said.

He’s known the Browns about 16 years and his wife Carol has known Andrew Brown since he was a baby.

A girl with a cell phone held it close to his face. In the light from the phone, she said it was Andrew, Moore said. “I saw Andrew a million times walking past here, coming, going, he was a real quiet type. He was one of those kids who was never in a hurry.”

It was a fateful decision to take a dirt bike with no lights and no helmet for a ride at dusk, which set events into motion.

Moore, who works as a mechanic for Jahna Concrete, heard from a friend of Brown’s that the motorcycle may have had mechanical troubles that contributed to an already bad situation.

“I talked to a friend of Andrew’s who told me the bike wasn’t running that good,” Moore said. “It had problems with the throttle - it was sticking - and the brakes weren’t that good.”

The stop sign at that corner is stained with drippings from Spanish moss growing in the tree above, and is difficult to read. It is unknown if that was a factor, as Shearer was not charged with running it.

Avon Park Police Chief Frank Mercurio said Tuesday the crash investigation is ongoing. So far, no charges had been filed against Shearer.
Shearer was not injured, and there were no other passengers or pedestrians involved.

Brown’s stepfather, Eric Sewell, said Tuesday there has been a non-stop procession of cars visiting the home since news got out of Andrew Brown’s death. The family living room was adorned with floral arrangements from loving friends and family.

Brown is survived by his mom, stepfather and his daughter A’nya, almost 2, his brothers Earnest, 38; Cleo, 36; Kevin, 34; and Edgar, 23; half sister, Rosemary Brown, 46; and grandmother, Daisey Martin, lots of aunts, uncles, and cousins, plus 17 nieces and nephews with two more on the way.

“Andrew was a soft-hearted young man – very loving and yes, yes, yes, he had a lot of friends,” Brown-Sewell said.

“Every time he walked up to you he’d give you a big hug, no matter who you were,” said VerKosha Hamilton, a family friend. Brown’s mother is godmother to her daughter. “He was a big hugger. He was sweet.”

“Yes he liked to hug and kiss, kiss,” his mom added. “He was very loving.”

Her next stop was to make the funeral arrangements for a week from Saturday.

“Funeral arrangements to bury my son,” she said. “Yes, that’s the hardest thing.”