A post-mortem done yesterday has found that the young female Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) soldier and her child — whose bodies were among three found at Beach Road, Port Morant in St Thomas last weekend — received injuries to their bodies before they were burnt.

“The pathologist concluded that the adult female died by way of a chop wound to the neck, while the male child had an incised wound also to the neck,” according to the post-mortem report.

However, the pathologist said results from the examination on the body of the man — father of the female soldier’s child — were inconclusive due to substances that were found in his stomach.

“Those samples will be used in a toxicology report, to determine cause of death,” said a report by the constabulary’s Corporate Communications Unit, quoting the pathologist.

“The process to identify the bodies through the use of DNA samples continues,” said the pathologist.

The post-mortem report suggests that the man could have inflicted wounds to his common-law spouse and child, burnt their bodies, then ingested a toxic substance after which he set himself on fire.

The bodies were identified by relatives as that of JDF soldier Lexton Clayton, 21; her child, Tyler Taylor, two; and the child’s father, Kimani Taylor, 28.

It was alleged by relatives and people who know them that the two had been having relationship challenges.

The police had reported that Taylor, a security guard with the Portland Municipal Corporation, on Saturday morning rented a Nissan Latio motor car for two days. The owner of the car indicated that he received a call from him early afternoon the same day, advising him that he was in St Thomas and had a difficulty. The call ended abruptly.

Attempts by the owner to again reach Taylor by phone proved futile. The owner then engaged the vehicle’s electronic tracking system to locate the car, which had been seemingly abandoned at Beach Road in Port Morant.

According to the police, a child restraint seat and a piece of rope, which appeared to be new, were found inside the motor vehicle.

The owner of the vehicle advised that these items had not been in the vehicle when it was handed over to Taylor under a two-day rental arrangement.

A weekend police report said after collecting the rented motor car, Taylor, who is from Cornwall Barracks in Portland, picked up his son. It is believed he then collected Clayton from JDF headquarters, Up Park Camp in Kingston, and the three had headed for her home town in Bransbury District, Yallahs, St Thomas.