Retired high school teacher suspected of committing suicide in St James
Published:Saturday | October 7, 2023 | 4:29 PM
Sixty-year-old Andrea McKenzie-Allen, a retired teacher of Cooper's Hill in St James, is suspected to have committed suicide at her home on Friday.
The Montego Bay police say about 5:30 p.m., her husband returned home, saw the body and alerted them.
On their arrival, the body was seen hanging by its neck and was tied to a piece of rope. The rope was attached to the ceiling fan in a bedroom, the police said in a statement on Saturday.
The scene was processed and the body was removed to the morgue.
McKenzie-Allen taught at St James High School for over 30 years. She retired last year and had been working in a family-owned business.
Data released by the government over the summer showed that more Jamaicans are committing suicide. The 2022 Economic and Social Survey Jamaica revealed that 64 suicides were recorded in 2022, a 26 per cent increase over the 51 cases documented in 2021.
But the country's rate of just over two per 100,000 of the population remains well below the global average of 9.2 per 100,000.
Persons contemplating suicide may reach out to the Ministry of Health's suicide helpline at 888 NEW LIFE (639-5433).
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