It was another Friday in March for many except 3 children who didn’t live to see it. It was reported that early that morning as the kids slept soundly, their house was sprayed with gasoline and set ablaze by a mentally ill family member.
The children who are known to be siblings are nine-year-old Abigail Reid, who attended Iris Gelly Primary; Leonardo Morris, 15, a student of Excelsior High and 17-year-old Bebeto Harris of Tarrant High. They burned to death at their home in a section of Arnett Garden.
It was actually their mentally ill uncle who set fire to the house. According to gleanerjamaica.com, the mother Suzzette Morais was prevented by the court from being with her children due to an allegation that she was involved in an acid dousing incident. She is now tormented by that fact and is currently receiving psychiatric counselling at the hospital bi-weekly.
In the Jamaica Gleaner story “Suzette’s Fight For Survival”. They quoted Ms. Morais as saying: “In Hopefull Village, it’s more than one death that happened by a mental person,” said the mother who recalls a mentally ill man stabbing his mother to death in the area some years ago.
The uncle/brother was recently admitted to Bellvue (a hospital that cares for the mentally ill) but released a day after.
