The Tribune

By SANCHESKA BROWN

Tribune Staff Reporter

sbrown@tribunemedia.net

ASSISTANT Commissioner of Police Emrick Seymour said yesterday there is no evidence that the six relatives who died in a house fire last month were murdered.

Speaking with The Tribune yesterday, Mr Seymour said an autopsy has been completed on three of the victims and the report does not show any sign of murder. He also denied that the windows and doors of the residence were nailed shut, preventing them from escaping.

“The autopsy does not suggest murder, at least on the three bodies where the report was completed. The other three were burned beyond recognition so there are some other things we have to do before their autopsy is performed,” he said.

“No doors or windows were nailed shut, nothing like that happened to

prevent them from leaving. They had no wounds on the body to suggest murder. A family member of those victims is a Police Officer, so we aren’t hiding anything. I don’t know who these unscrupulous people are who are starting these murder rumours, but you can’t say those kinds of things without evidence. It’s just not right.”

Despite allegations that arson was to blame , a police source said, an ongoing investigation into the Homestead Avenue incident has revealed that the fire began at the front of the four-room structure where an extension cord reportedly had electrical problems.

The cord, it is claimed, was connected to a power outlet at another building.

Police do not believe that the house, which was completely destroyed by the fire, was connected to BEC’s grid, the source explained.

According to RBPF insiders, investigators believe that when the victims realized that a fire had broken out, the blaze was already too intense to make an escape through the home’s main entrance.

They then attempted to escape flames and smoke through the back door of the structure, but that effort was made impossible because a fridge was blocking that exit. In a last ditch effort, all of the victims piled into the bathroom where they again tried to get out through a window. However the burglar bars prevented this effort.

So far 52-year-old Marilyn Barrett, 23-year-old Unissa Pratt and 2-year-old Joashinique King, all of Homestead Street have been positively identified.

The other three are believed to be Jennifer Bisphaint, 22, the mother of the two-year-old, Melchizedek Bain, 15, and Trayvon Grant, 16.

Fire Chief Walter Evans said investigations into the cause of the blaze should be completed “soon.”