‘We’ve become a barbaric people’
Politicians lament four killed in Central Village firebombing, including four-year-old
QUICK THINKING by a teenage fire victim to drench herself in water only served for her body to be easily identified in the aftermath of yesterday’s deadly house bombing in the gritty Compound district in Central Village, St Catherine. The attack claimed the lives of four.
As persons tried to come to grips with the situation, fire and police investigators shared a belief that sophisticated techniques were used by the arsonists, causing the concrete structure to be reduced to char.
Head of the St Catherine Fire Division Superintendent Dennis Lyon said the body of 13-year-old Sora White, who attended Jose Marti High School and appeared to be using her smarts to escape the tragic incident, was found in the bathroom, in a tub, during cooling-down operations.
The burnt remains of Sora’s mother, 48-year-old Nicola Clarke, her sibling Nicola James and James’ four-year-old son Khaden Patterson were found on the verandah of the three-bedroom house.
“(That) seems as if she ran from the blaze and was trying to assist herself with dousing with water but it seems she was overcome... The female in the bathroom did not have much burn… she died (perhaps) because of the heat or smoke inhalation,” Lyon said.
Political figures Denise Daley, member of parliament for the constituency, and Spanish Town Mayor Norman Scott expressed dismay at the barbarity witnessed.
“A four-year-old, a 13-year-old, an adult woman, come on man, we have become a barbaric people,” lamented Daley, echoing the sentiments of a shocked community.
Scott called for swift justice, denouncing the heinous acts as “unforgivable” and “unwarranted”.
Two units and 14 firefighters reportedly responded to the distress call.
Gangsters, in a series of vicious attacks within a span of 24 hours, firebombed two houses, instilling fear and prompting an exodus of several families from the besieged community.
The first act of savagery unfolded at the stroke of midnight on Monday when unknown assailants targeted 55-year-old Angella Lee, leaving her seriously injured
after shooting her in the mouth. As the night wore on, the violence escalated, culminating in the devastating firebombing at 4 a.m. on First Avenue.
“Yesterday (Monday) morning at 4:10 a call came in again and a team responded and on arrival that house was seen on fire… after cooling down and inspection was carried out, the body of a male was seen behind the building. That person seems to have sustained chop and gunshot wounds,” Supt Lyon told The Gleaner.
The parish chief said the fire investigations are ongoing but based on what transpired on Monday night and Tuesday morning there is a pattern.
On Tuesday the fire department called on the services of a team of competent fire investigators, including a member who had just returned from training in China, as they sought to identify the source of the fire.
Some sources revealed a grim motive behind the onslaught. The initial attack was allegedly triggered by the recent police seizure of two rifles and a 9mm pistol, leading to the arrest and charging of a suspect. According to sources there was retaliation, marked by the firebombing of the first house.
“Is a lot of mix-up,” lamented a resident, highlighting the chaotic circumstances fuelling the violence. “They claim them a informer.”
According to a source, the presence of Nicola James spending the night at the targeted house sealed their fate.
“They firebombed the house wid the woman them because they want to kill one who go to stay up there Tuesday night,” revealed the source.
Superintendent Hopeton Nicholson, who is operations manager for the St Catherine South Division, told The Gleaner that the community resembled a ghost town on his arrival yesterday, which signalled that the terrorist-style attack was internal and everything is happening in a close space.
Despite the chilling events, his senior, Area Commander and Assistant Commissioner Gary Griffiths, remains cautious in linking the incidents directly.
“The i nvestigation is in its formative stage. We are looking at the theory that the incidents could be connected, but it is early stage yet,” said Griffiths, while urging community members with information to come forward.
The fire victims are originally from a section of March Pen Road in Spanish Town – approximately two miles away – called ‘Africa’, and still have family residing there.
IN MOURNING
Residents on March Pen Road were plunged into mourning and say the Compound house bombing reminded them of a similar experience almost eight years ago when five members of a family underwent a horrified attack in the Spanish Town community and perished in October 2016.
“From morning mi nuh even drink water to how mi hear the news and shock. This remind mi of when dem kill dem round deh suh and shoot up the house. A same way only one of dem could be identified. The rest were burnt out completely,” the family friend said of the March Pen Road attack.
Vashty Clarke, the stepmother of the senior Nicola, told The Gleaner that she grew her, having married her father who is now deceased.
“She was a nice person, all mi two sick pickney dem she cook and feed dem whole day and night. She was a nice sister to dem, a nice stepdaughter. Everybody here is affected by it,” Clarke said.
She told The Gleaner she last saw Nicola two Saturdays ago when she came to the community to do her hair and told them she would return soon.
“She say she had a pig over there and she leave to come back and we don’t see her till we hear she dead,” Clarke said.
In a display of defiance, Scott pledged to stand as an informant for those too afraid to come forward.
“I will be the informer because I am not scared,” declared Scott, rallying the community to unite against the perpetrators.