Boy, ٣, killed in fire – Relatives Suspect was 'obsessed'
٧ أشهر فى TT News day
Police are still searching for the man who they believe may have critical information about the death of three-year-old Jereem George. The child died in a fire at his home in Christian Extension, Windy Hill, Arouca on January 23.
A man, who Jereem's mother knew well, went to the family’s house shortly before midnight and tried to force his way in.
George’s mother Geeniel George tried to keep him out but he overpowered her and forced his way inside. She ran next door to ask a male relative for help, but when she returned the house was on fire.
Jereem’s siblings managed to escape the blaze but he was trapped and died in the blaze. Police said the fire is being treated as an arson and homicide officers are investigating.
Speaking at the police media briefing at Police Administration Building, Port of Spain on January 27, ACP Richard Smith said police from the North Central Division are still investigating the incident.
He said he was unsure what headway had been made in the search for the suspect but promised reporters he will give an update at a later date.
George’s relatives spoke to the media at the Forensic Science Centre in St James on January 27.
They told Newsday the man police are looking for, has a history of violence and they described him as being “obsessed” with a relative of Jereem.
Relatives claimed they had filed three police reports against the man but he was never apprehended.
“We made one just the week before (the fire). I was speaking to police on the phone and asked them to come and pick him up. But sometimes they come and he will disappear, and as soon as they gone, he comes back again,” a relative said.
None of the family members wanted to be publicly identified.
Relatives said the suspect attacked a family member in July and caused the victim to be hospitalised.
The family said they believe the suspect went to the house on Thursday night with the intention of hurting someone.
A relative said the way the bed was located, the intruder would have seen the three-year-old child asleep in it. "You trying to tell me he didn’t see that child on the bed there? He didn’t care," a relative said.
Relatives said the man had made threats to a family member in the past and had admitted to spying on that relative at night.
Relatives added that no one in the family ever considered going to court to take a restraining order against the man.
“That would have been just a set of run around. They tell us get a restraining order, but that not protecting anybody. That restraining order putting up a fence around you?
“You know many people in this country get killed and they had a restraining order? It’s almost as though that makes (the perpetrator) want to prove a point and say ‘you feel that could stop me?’”
The post Boy, 3, killed in fire – Relatives: Suspect was 'obsessed' appeared first on Trinidad and Tobago Newsday.