By Erica James-King, Senior Staff ReporterWESTERN BUREAU:
FOR THE fourth time in a little over a month, a street person in Montego Bay has been set ablaze.
This time, the incident is reported to have occurred at a refuge for street people -- City Spirit Foundation's Day Centre -- which caters to the homeless.
Yesterday afternoon both the St. James police and Cornwall Regional Hospital officials confirmed that Reginaldo Anthony Brown, 37, of no fixed address, suffered severe burns to the chest, abdomen and arms when he was set on fire, allegedly by another homeless person.
The suspect, Athol Edwards, 30, was yesterday afternoon charged with assault occasioning grievous bodily harm.
It is reported that about 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, March 16, Brown was lying on his back on a bench at City Spirit Foundation waiting for lunch, when he was doused with what appeared to be gasolene and set on fire.
Brown told the police that when he felt the heat on his body and realized his shirt was in flames, he jumped up and saw the suspect running from the building.
Hospital sources said Brown suffered second degree burns to the abdomen and chest. The severity of the burns could keep Brown in hospital for three to four weeks.
Only Donavan Mitchell, one of three homeless persons burnt in February, still remains in the Cornwall Regional Hospital undergoing treatment. According to the hospital, the others, Michael Morales and Elvin Irving, left over a week ago without being discharged.
The police say they have made no breakthrough in their search for a man known only as "Ragga", of Payne Street, Kingston, who is wanted for questioning about the torching of Morales and Mitchell on February 7.
In July 1999, 32 homeless people were forcibly removed from the streets of Montego Bay tied up, pepper-sprayed and trucked to St. Elizabeth where they were dumped.
