ISAAC BAXTER, a 35-year-old houseman employed to the Housekeeping Department of Le Meridien Jamaica Pegasus hotel, is reported to have jumped to his death yesterday from the 11th floor of the New Kingston hotel.
Mr Baxter, who was assigned duty on the 10th and 11th floors and had been employed to the hotel for five years, landed on the roof of the ballroom where guests were preparing for a function.
Detective Sergeant Jubert Llewellyn of the Constabulary Communication Network said according to fellow employees, Mr Baxter, who lives on Sandals Crescent, Kingston 11, had been acting strangely all day and had told another employee earlier yesterday that there were people following him.
Sergeant Llewellyn said the incident occurred at about 4:15 p.m. when a guest on the sixth floor saw Mr Baxter in flight and alerted the hotel's switchboard operator.
The police theory of suicide was endorsed by the hotel's Public Relations consultant, Marcia Erskine, who said that barricades on the balcony were a deterrent to any accident.
Mr Baxter, whose family lives in Clarendon was described as a quiet, introverted and a hard worker. He had just returned to the hotel two days ago after a two-week sick leave.
Elena Girvan, executive assistant manager at the hotel, said that Mr Baxter had visited the doctor again earlier that day. "He was a personable young man who didn't speak much to anybody," she said. She said that employees reported that Mr Baxter wasn't his usual self. One security guard in the hotel's lobby said that Mr Baxter was seen waving from the room before he jumped and died with his fingers crossed.
The Half-Way Tree Police say Mr Baxter was reportedly suffering from depression and was on medication.
