Jamaican accused of murder found dead

PHILIPSBURG (CMC):

Robert Reid, the Jamaican man who was arrested for the gruesome murder of his 13-year-old daughter, Tiffany, last month, has died.

Police said Reid was found hanging from a 'string' around his neck in the medical ward of the Pointe Blanche prison, where he had been since his arrest on September 7, nursing burn wounds on his torso. The police report did not indicate whether Reid committed suicide, noting "the Forensic Department and detectives are investigating this case to determine exactly what happened".

Reid, a school bus driver, was a prime suspect in the murder of his daughter, whose charred body was found shortly before his arrest, discarded in a ravine in South Reward, a residential area near the island's capital Philipsburg.

Parents separated

Tiffany, a secondary-school student, had apparently been killed not long before her body was found by nearby residents who had earlier reported hearing an explosive sound.

Media reports said the girl's parents had recently broken up.