Jamaican fast food mogul hailed 'the Perfect American Success Story' fatally shoots himself in factory

Preliminary indications suggest Mr Hawthorne took his own life but police are continuing to look into the circumstances leading up to his death

The magnate’s death shocked New York’s Caribbean story because Hawthorne was routinely lauded as an immigrant success story (Getty)

The CEO of Golden Krust Caribbean Bakery & Grill who was hailed as the archetypal American success story has killed himself in his Bronx factory.

Lowell Hawthorn, who created a Caribbean empire which popularised the beef patty across the US, fatally shot himself on Saturday, according to the police.

The police said the 57-year-old was found dead just after 10pm on Saturday in his office at the company factory in the Claremont neighbourhood.

While preliminary indications suggest Mr Hawthorne took his own life police are continuing to look into the circumstances leading up to his death.

Capitalising on recipes from his native Jamaica, he opened the first Golden Krust store in the Bronx back in 1989 when he was just 21. He went on to carve out a fast food empire and expanded to more than 120 franchises in nine states.

The magnate’s death shocked New York’s Caribbean community because Mr Hawthorn, who was president and chief executive of Golden Krust Caribbean Bakery & Grill for almost three decades, was routinely lauded as an immigrant success story.

The Bronx-based company where he worked with his wife and four children thanked his supporters and said arrangements for his funeral would be announced at a later date.

“Our hearts are broken, and we are struggling to process our grief over this tremendous loss,” the Golden Krust company said in a statement on Sunday. “Lowell was a visionary, entrepreneur, community champion, and above all a committed father, family man, friend and man of faith.”

Ruben Diaz Jr, the Bronx borough president, expressed his sadness at the news on Twitter. “Lowell Hawthorne was a good friend, and was always ready to help my office whenever we needed him,” he said.

“He will be sorely missed. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family, friends and employees during this difficult time.”

Andrew Holness, the prime minister of Jamaica, said: “My condolences to the friends, family and employees of Jamaica-born Lowell Hawthorne, CEO of Golden Krust Caribbean Bakery & Grill. He headed the largest Caribbean franchise chain in the US, with more than 120 stores.”

Mr Hawthorne wrote a memoir titled The Baker’s Son back in 2013 in which he cast his mind back to his childhood in Jamaica, where he was raising rabbits, chicken and guinea pigs at the age of just 10.

He started the wildly successful Caribbean fast food chain in 1989 by selling selling beef patties and jerk chicken under the maxim “We take the taste of the Caribbean to the world.”

The majority of the restaurants, which serve up mildly spicy and hot Jamaican patties, jerk chicken, jerk fish, dumplings, steamed yams, callaloo, ackee, and curried meat dishes, are situated in New York.

Barbadian pop superstar Rihanna visits the “Caribbean fast food spot” whose shops are adorned with cheerfully bright yellow and orange tiles.

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