A Jamaican woman is now on the run after allegedly setting a house on fire with her mother and her child inside. The police are searching for the suspect who lived in the Downcastle district of Mount Ogle in St. Andrew with her mother and daughter.
The two-bedroom house, built from board and concrete, was set ablaze early Tuesday morning, reportedly after the woman and her mother had a dispute. The grandmother and her grandchild escaped the burning house without injuries.
A report from the Jamaica Gleaner detailed that the fire began in one of the rooms while the grandmother was in another room with the child. The report, citing statements from a resident, stated that the grandmother and the child felt the heat and noticed the smoke. They subsequently dashed outside while the fire quickly spread throughout the house, preventing them from saving any of their valuables. The house was completely engulfed in flames when the Stony Hill Fire Station personel arrived at the scene sometime after 2 a.m.
According to the report, the woman was described as seemingly mentally ill by the police. A resident also shared that the suspect had a dispute with her mother, and she threatened to burn down the house.
“Apparently, they were in a dispute from the other day, and she told her mother she was going to go burn down the house, and she got up and burnt it down and didn’t even save a suit of clothes for her daughter,” a resident said.
The disheartening incident resulted in a fireman donating some of his daughter’s clothes to the young child right after the incident. The police are urging the woman, who reportedly has a second child, to turn herself in at any police station.