A three-year-old boy perished in a fire at his Morvant home on Monday afternoon.
It was the second time in a little over eight years that tragedy struck Kimani Braithwaite’s family, as his two uncles were murdered at the family’s Petunia Avenue, Coconut Drive, Morvant home in 2014 before he was even born.
According to reports, the fire began around 1 pm, on Monday when Brathwaite’s mother left him, and his seven-year-old and five-year-old brothers with her uncle Roulston Stanislaus as she left home to run an errand.
In a brief interview, Stanislaus said that he was upstairs with Braithwaite, who was sleeping when his siblings alerted him to a fire downstairs.
Stanislaus led the two boys downstairs to investigate but was forced to flee outside as the fire had already spread.
Stanislaus claimed that he attempted to go back inside to rescue Braithwaite but was unable to as the house was quickly engulfed by the fire.
A fire tender from the Morvant Fire Station arrived on the scene shortly after and extinguished the fire.
“He could not talk much as yet but he was full of life,” an emotional Stanislaus said when asked to describe the toddler.
When a news team from Guardian Media visited the scene, a large group of residents gathered outside as police and fire officers conducted their investigations.
Braithwaite’s father and uncle were inconsolable upon arriving at the location as both men ignored the caution tape blocking access to the smouldering remains of the house and attempted to go inside.
They were quickly restrained by a group of male residents and the officers.
Braithwaite’s mother also collapsed and had to be consoled by a group of relatives as his body was being removed by funeral home staff.
One neighbour, who spoke to Guardian Media but asked to remain unnamed, said that she felt especially sad for Brathwaite’s mother, who she described as a “good mother.”
“First it was her brother, now it is her son in that same house. I don’t know how she handling this right now,” she said.
On June 1, 2014, Braithwaite’s uncles Jamal Braithwaite and Jadel Holder, ages 15 and nine, were shot dead by gunmen who raided the family’s small two-story duplex.
Their mother Michelle Holder, who was at home at the time, was spared by the gunmen, who shot the sibling’s cousin Glendel Alexander in his leg as he sought to run away during the incident.
Fire officers were combing the charred ruins of the family’s home to determine the cause of the fire, up to late Monday.
