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Jamaican mom left note in NYC fatal fire
RAYMOND… said his son was an even-tempered youth, who would never hurt anyone. (Photo: Naphtali Junior)
Lifestyle, Local Lifestyle, Tuesday Style
AP and PAUL HENRY  
July 25, 2010

Jamaican mom left note in NYC fatal fire

POLICE believe a Jamaican mother who died in a suspected murder-suicide and arson in her New York City home penned a badly charred, fragmented note with the words “am sorry”.Observer from his home in St Andrew Saturday, said if he could turn back the hands of time, his only son would have been here with him in Jamaica, instead of a morgue somewhere in New York.Observer while sitting limp in an unfinished section of his house in Red Hills, St Andrew, that on numerous occasions the teen would complain to him about the way he was being treated by his 33-year-old mother.Observer that his son was not guilty and instead charged that the only likely suspect, in his eyes, would have been Jones because her “temper was too high”.Related stories:Inquiry Into Staten Island Fire Shifts to MotherUndigested pills found in suspected killer C.J. Jones’ stomach; handwriting in note could be mom’s

New York Police Department spokesman Paul Browne said yesterday that the note’s handwriting matched a diary also found in the Staten Island apartment. He said police believe both were written by Leisa Jones.

Investigators had described Jones’ 14-year-old son Romoy Ceejay Raymond as a suspect because he had a history of playing with fire.

But they haven’t ruled out his mother.

The bodies of Jones, Raymond, and two young daughters — their throats slit — were found early Thursday during a fire at the home. Raymond had a razor under his body.

A fourth child, a two-year-old boy, died at the hospital.

The 14-year-old’s father, Earlston Raymond, has maintained that his son — who was initially fingered as the main suspect — could not have committed the crime.

Raymond, who spoke with the

Raymond, a 39-year-old mechanic, told the

He said he would ask Jones to send home his son, who had been in the US for over six years, but she wouldn’t.

“I use to tell her to send home the youth because I’m a tradesman and he can learn a skill,” said Raymond. “But she wouldn’t send him. She would spank him and take away his phone.”

He said too that his son wanted to move back home.

“Boy, it hurt me fi know how de youth just dead so,” said Raymond.

Raymond told the

He said a friend in New York told him, following the tragedy, that Jones had on previous occasions threatened to kill the children and “burn down the house”.

With an expression of bewilderment and grief etched on his face, Raymond said his son loved his siblings and that he was an even-tempered youth who was not easily upset.

In contrast, Raymond described Jones as a violent woman and said that their relationship did not last because of her quick-tempered nature.

Now Raymond has only one desire, which he did not hesitate to share.

“Regardless of my son being dead and gone, I just want them to clear his name,” he said.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The New York police initially believed that Romoy Raymond killed his family at their Staten Island New York home last Thursday, before slashing his own throat. (Photo: Naphtali Junior)
Leisa Jones, 33, was said to have a bad temper.  (Photo: Naphtali Junior)
A firefighter works in the family’s burnt-out house in New York, Thursday. The early morning fire killed five people.  (Photo: AP)
Firefighters and other first responders work on the site of the fatal fire in New York, Thursday. (Photo: AP)
This photo released by the Wee Care day care centre in Staten Island via the Staten Island Advance, shows Jermaine Jones in New York in 2009. The two-year-old, his three siblings and mother all died after an early-morning fire in their Staten Island  home Thursday. (Photo: AP)
This undated photo released by the Wee Care day care centre in Staten Island via the Staten Island Advance, shows Melonie Jones in New York in 2009. The seven-year-old, her three siblings and mother all died after an early-morning fire in their Staten Island  home Thursday. (Photo: AP)
This photo released by the Wee Care day care centre in Staten Island via the Staten Island  Advance, shows Brittney Jones in New York in 2009. The 10-year-old, her three siblings and mother all died after an early-morning fire in their Staten Island home Thursday. (Photo: AP)

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