Man dies in East PoS blaze; boy, 10, held

A ten-year-old boy remains in police custody, arrested shortly after a male relative died in a fire believed set by the youngster at the victim’s East Port of Spain home during the early morning hours yesterday.

Akeil Phipps, 24, was pronounced dead shortly after he was found covered in flames which badly damaged the kitchen in his home.

According to reports, shortly after midnight, relatives smelt smoke and heard screams coming from the kitchen. When they rushed to the room, they saw Phipps on his knees literally a human fire ball. Using buckets of water, relatives doused the flames and rushed Phipps to hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival.

Phipps’ stepmother Janelle Harper yesterday sobbed as she stood in the kitchen looking at the scorched walls and burnt furniture.

“I woke up at quarter to twelve Monday night to use the wash room then I went back to bed. About 20 minutes later, I started hearing screams from the kitchen area. My son and I went to investigate and we saw Akeil on his knees with fire all over him. He was begging us to help him,” Harper said.

Philips’ father Warren said the incident left him devastated and he could not understand why anyone would do that to his family. Phipps said he hustled his family outside when he realised a section of the house was on fire, but forgot Akeil was still inside.

“For me it hurts. He’s our first child. It’s supposed to be the other way around, he is supposed to bury us. He was a real quiet young man.

He would stay in his room and play games on his PlayStation when he was not at work at Access Storage facility. Sometimes a whole day would pass and we wouldn’t even know that he was home. It’s really sad.”

Police sources said a ten-year-old relative of the Phipps family who is believed to have been behind a number of recent arson attacks, including one at an abandoned building, was interrogated shortly after the fire and then handed over to his father. Yesterday officers returned to the scene and arrested the boy.

Phipps said while he is unfamiliar with the boy, others had grown accustomed seeing him loitering on the street and were not alarmed when they saw him near the house hours before blaze. Phipps’ mother Carla McPhearson yesterday said while she was deeply pained by her son’s death, she hopes the ten-year-old would take this opportunity to mend his own life.