Suspected murder-suicide shock in Cardiff Hall

Fire investigators going through the rubble of a burnt-out apartment to determine the cause of Sunday’s fire at Cardiff Hall in Runaway Bay, St Ann, on Monday made a ghastly find when they stumbled upon the body of a young girl who was apparently murdered before the fire started.

The girl, believed to have been between five and seven years old, and her mother, 26-year-old Shellian Hamilton, died in what is believed to have been a murder-suicide at an apartment building that left other occupants of the building and neighbours in shock.

Veronica Lamey, whose daughter owns the house where the tragedy occurred, told The Gleaner that she was on her way back from church when her niece called her, saying “Auntie, I heard your house burn down.”

“When I reached, I saw a lot of cars up the street here and I said, ‘Jesus it look as if something happen at the house where I’m living’,” Lamey related.

She continued: “When I came up the police was at the gate, and say ‘Mommy you can’t get in’; so I sat on the outside until something after four o’clock. My son-in-law was already here. He went to Linstead and picked up the girl (Hamilton) and carried her here. He said she had a suitcase she left in the car and she asked him to bring the suitcase up the stairs for her. By the time he reached up the stairs the door was already locked. He knocked on the door and said, ‘It’s me Steve; I bring up the suitcase.’ She said, ‘You can’t come in the room now ... you can’t come in the room. Please put the suitcase out the doorway for me.”

Steve left the suitcase at the door and went back downstairs to begin cooking Sunday dinner for Lamey, who is 92 years old.

“He said by the time he took up the pan with the chicken, somebody from number five (the room next door the burnt room) called him and said, ‘number four is in smoke!”

Steve ran back up the stairs, and finding the door still locked as smoke billowed from the room, kicked it off. He, however, was unable to enter the room because of the thick smoke, so he quickly called the fire brigade.

Psychotherapist Dr Sidney McGill recently returned from the United States to Jamaica and was staying at the apartment building when the incident occurred.

A leading psychotherapist for 25 years, McGill suggested that things could have been different, with assistance from relatives.

“I think that pain that is not transformed is transmitted; there were lot of unresolved issues,” he suggested.

“Most of the times when a psychiatrist sees people like those going through the sufferation and the mental issues, it’s usually when it is far gone. I’m saying family members, if you find that a relative of yours is not sleeping well, not eating, is very sensitive and highly overreactive, it means there is something that’s wrong.”

McGill admitted that a lot of times relatives might pick up that someone needs help but unless the affected person is willing to get help, they have to wait until there is some legal issues and the court intervenes and orders treatment.

“I’m saying build relationships; be a part of what’s going on. Don’t wait for a crisis, just be aware of your relative. And I’m speaking specifically to some men, don’t just think that by providing, that is sufficient, you need to be emotionally present, whether it’s your children, your partner or relatives.”

McGill said it’s about loving and caring for each other. He suggested going to church or other religious gatherings offers an opportunity to get support.

“It means having a routine where, when you have your issues there is somewhere you can go and find that there are others who are experiencing similar situation who can encourage one another. I’m saying, let’s get back to being social and being cooperative and being understanding and spend less time in front of a device and more time in the company of others,” McGill said.

carl.gilchrist@gleanerjm.com