(JAMAICA OBSERVER) A family dispute in Manchester on the weekend that left one brother dead and one in police custody has also left their mother and four of their siblings homeless after her house was burnt down.
The deceased has been identified as 22-year-old Anthony Campbell.
Reports from the police are that Campbell and his brother, who has a different father, lived at the same house in Richmond and had a dispute on Saturday night, which resulted in him being stabbed. He succumbed to the injuries in hospital.
Police investigations have been ongoing to determine exactly what happened.
There are speculations that the dispute resulted between the brothers because of an altercation that Campbell had with their mother.
Reports are that following this incident the house in which Campbell’s mother lived with four of her children was set afire.
Allegations are that Campbell’s father may have had a role in the arson and is in custody; however, charges have not been laid.
The mother, Mayor of Mandeville Donovan Mitchell said, is a sister of his sister.
He said that he stepped in to help on Sunday to find the mother and her four children who lived with her in Richmond a place to stay.
“They can stay [where they are now] until other arrangements are made,” Mitchell told the Jamaica Observer, adding that he has started to seek support.
Mitchell said that the two youngest children are in high school and administrators from their respective institutions have intervened to ensure that they receive counselling.
Campbell reportedly died leaving an infant son while the older brother, who is now in police custody, is said to have no children.
Saturday’s incident follows another issue of domestic violence in the Cross Keys area of the parish last Thursday, in which a woman allegedly stabbed her common-law husband to death.
Manchester has had issues with domestic violence over the years, which led to the formation of the Manchester Dispute Resolution and Violence Prevention Association in 2012.
Chairman of the organisation, Pastor Dr Michael Harvey, said initiatives such as counselling, training for para-professional counsellors and first responders in conflict resolution, and parenting seminars, including special programmes for young fathers, have been undertaken.
Some income-generating opportunities have also been incorporated.
“We have made tremendous progress,” he said.
Harvey said that there has been a decline in the incidence of domestic violence up to 2017 and what has happened recently may be signs of an upsurge.
He said that the Dispute Resolution and Violence Prevention Association is committed to working to help to address the issue and expand its reach, but lack of funding is causing a level of difficulty.
Harvey said that they have managed to do the work that they have done to date with funding from Members of Parliament and through access to the resources at the Community Counselling and Restorative Justice Centre operated by Northern Caribbean University.