Delbert Morgan IV, the father of Delbert Morgan V — the man who died when he was hit by a train on June 20 in Newhall — has started a GoFundMe to pay for funeral services.
The elder Morgan said his whole family has a lot on their plate and is grieving differently. Morgan said he did not learn about his son’s death for a month, saying that his son’s mother is still in denial about his death and that it took that long for investigators to finally track him down.
Morgan V’s body is still at the morgue in the Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner-Coroner. Morgan IV, who lives in the Bay Area, is disabled and unable to travel down and retrieve his son’s body. The entire experience has been extremely difficult, but he said he needs to keep going.
“Being depressed, you just aren’t motivated to do anything… I just wanted to shut down, and give up, and not deal with anything. But I can’t,” said Morgan IV. “I just need to do everything I need to do until I get enough money to cremate him.”
Morgan said his son was a wonderful person, extending help to anyone who needed it and that when he was a child he routinely showed how intelligent he was.
“He was very gifted, very smart. Scared me so many times with how smart he was,” said Morgan. “He was always advanced, even as a child, as a baby. He was just like a perfect baby.”
Morgan wants to use the money to cremate his son and have his son’s ashes be laid to rest with Morgan IV’s father, Delbert Morgan lll. Currently the GoFundMe is about halfway to its goal of $5,000, which Morgan IV says should be enough to pay for the services.
At the moment, he is doing everything he can do to organize things on his own, but is still working through the motions of grief and trying to make sense of his son’s death.
“Unfortunately, towards the last few years, I don’t know what happened because I guess he went to a real dark place and he just kind of stopped communicating with me,” he said. “Last I spoke to him, he was coming to visit me on Father’s Day, two years ago. And I don’t know, I don’t know what happened. His cell phone, when I called it, went to voicemail. That voicemail was full. If I texted him, he never responded… I can’t imagine… I don’t know why he didn’t call me.”
If you’d like to donate to Morgan’s GoFundMe visit bit.ly/3ba0emZ.
According to local mental health experts, most, but not all, people who die by suicide do exhibit some warning signs including, but not limited to: Talking about wanting to die, looking for a way to kill oneself, talking about feeling hopeless or having no purpose, talking about feeling trapped or in unbearable pain, talking about being a burden to others, increasing the use of alcohol or drugs, acting anxious, agitated or recklessly, sleeping too little or too much, withdrawing or feeling isolated, showing rage or talking about seeking revenge or displaying extreme mood swings.
Also, according to mental health professionals, if you, or anyone you know, is having suicidal thoughts, it’s important to not leave the person alone; to remove any firearms, alcohol, drugs or sharp objects that could be used in a suicide attempt; to call the U.S. National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988; and, take the person to an emergency room or seek help from a medical or mental health professional.
