OUT OF CONTROL
Woman's murderous fire kills innocent man and stepson
Darryl Heeralal
Sunday, May 7th 2006
Marvin Taitt breaks down at the scene of the fire that killed his three-year-old son, Jossiah Taitt, at Nelson Street, Port of Spain, yesterday morning.
The actions of a woman who tried to kill her husband has ended in the death of an unrelated toddler and the child's stepfather.
The woman said to be a Guyanese national doused her common-law husband with either gasolene or kerosene, set him alight but the fire razed through the apartment building killing three-year-old Jossiah Paitt and his step-father, Junior Fortune, 30.
Their burnt bodies were found in the bathroom of the apartment and police believe they went there to hide from the inferno.
The woman's common-law husband was reported as critical last night in the intensive care unit of the Port of Spain General Hospital while she was in police custody.
"I just want to see my son. Oh God, why them people do that! Oh God!" Jamila Toby cried yesterday as firemen were putting out the blaze.
Jamila Toby holds her stomach in despair after her son, Jossiah, was burnt to death in yesterday's fire which was meant to kill somebody else.
The fatal fire took place around 7 a.m. in the upstairs apartment of a two-storey building opposite Don Carlos Club, corner of Nelson and Duke Streets, Port of Spain.
Four families were left homeless and four business places damaged, two completely.
Toby who could hardly hold up herself cried that she left her son and husband asleep to go to work about an hour before, at Arlene's Best Price shop, which was also damaged in the fire.
Police say the woman and her common-law husband lived in a back apartment and during a heated quarrel she doused the man, lit him afire and ran out of the apartment. While running away, burning pieces of skin and flesh dropped off lighting other areas of the apartment.
Police later arrested the woman at the scene and had her detained while an ambulance took the man to hospital. After investigations are complete the woman is expected to be charged with attempting to murder her common-law husband and with the death of Jossiah and Fortune.
"Oh God, meh chile! Ah want to go with meh chile! Oh God, meh chile, meh chile gone! I don't want nothing more than my child!" Toby wailed as undertakers took up her dead relatives from the burnt ruins. An injection given to Toby earlier at the hospital to sedate her did not help with her hysterics.
The other three families affected by the fire were also dazed by what took place and how it started.
Most of the affected families were more concerned with Toby's tragic loss than their own material possessions. While they had to find a place to sleep last night, Toby was left grappling with the fact that she lost not only her home but her family.
