A woman and a teenaged girl who were detained by police following the mysterious death of nine-year-old Abeomi Jeremiah have been released from custody.
The teenager, who suffers from a psychotic disorder, was handed over to the care of her parents shortly before midday yesterday. She spent several hours being interviewed by a psychiatrist on Saturday, hours after Jeremiah was found lying unconscious next to a burning wardrobe with candle wax over his eyes, ears, nostrils and mouth. His face was burnt and police said it appeared that he was placed in the wardrobe and then set afire.
Jeremiah’s mother, Ingrid Francis, told police that around 11.30 pm, she smelt smoke coming from a bedroom in the family’s Alexander Street, Longdenville, Chaguanas home. When Francis checked the bedroom, she also found Jeremiah’s 12-year-old sister with her hair on fire. She has since been released from hospital.
Jeremiah’s relatives have remained tight-lipped about the strange circumstances of his death. But police said it was apparent that some sort of ritual was being carried out. Police seized a book of rituals and candles from the house. Jeremiah was a student of the Tunapuna Boys’ RC School. His body was kept at the Sande Grande mortuary over the weekend and will taken to the Forensic Science Centre, St James, today, for an autopsy.
A police source said yesterday that they were finding it difficult to get information from Jeremiah’s family and friends. Even neighbours have been reluctant to speak. Police from the Homicide Bureau Southern Division, led by Sergeant Susan John, visited the scene and are continuing investigations.