POLICE are yet to apprehend the suspect in last Saturday night’s fire that left 10 persons homeless in “A” Field, Sophia. Fire Chief Marlon Gentle has confirmed that arson was the cause of the fire that razed the building that houses multiple apartments.
The suspect, Leon Anthony Turpin, called “Turpin”, is reportedly the jilted lover of the owner of the house:a wooden one-flat, 35 x 50 structure built on government reserve and divided into four apartments.
Yonette Roberts, who owns the house and who conceded that it was built on State land, said she has been living there for the past 15 years with her family.
The family at reference comprises six adults and four children; and now that they’re homeless,Roberts is asking the government to provide her with a house-lot so they can start life anew.
Roberts conceded, too, that she and Turpin had been in a relationship, but that was a long time ago. She said she has every reason to believe he’s behind the fire, since he’s been threatening,ever since they separated,to burn the house down, but she’d never taken him seriously.
The mother of four said they are temporarily being accommodated by friends, and is asking the public’s help in whatever way possible so they could pick up the pieces.
One neighbour said that some of the children could have died had it not been for persons assisting in getting them out of the burning building.
“I saw when the building started to burn, and these people were inside and unaware of what was happening,” the neighbour said, adding:
“And I started to make noise to alert them. All of dem children were inside the house, and all of dem could’ve died in that fire.”
According to the families, the apartments were fully furnished with every conceivable necessity.
Anyone willing to assist the Roberts family may contact the matriarch, Yonette Roberts on 680-9752.