Mother of Morvant toddler who died in fire needs help finding a home

As she struggles with the grief and trauma of losing her youngest child in a house fire, Krystal Brathwaite must also now find a home for the rest of her family.

Brathwaite's son Keymani, two, died when their house at Petunia Avenue, Coconut Drive, Morvant, caught on fire on Monday morning. Keymani's two siblings escaped, but he was trapped inside and died.

Speaking with Newsday at the Forensic Science Centre, St James, on Tuesday, his mother who had to be consoled by relatives, recalled leaving Keymani and his two siblings at home with their uncle while she went to buy pizza for the family.

Brathwaite said she left the children playing and watching cartoons, but was told of the fire not long after leaving the house.

"Before I could even reach by the pizza place, somebody called and said my house was on fire.

"They got out – the big children – but the baby remained in there.

"I just left my child for about 15 minutes, I didn't even reach to get the pizza – but when I came back my child was dead."

Her other children, she said, are "not functioning. They are only crying and asking for their brother, because they were really close."

Fire officers are continuing their investigation into what caused the fire. Brathwaite suspects it was an electrical fire caused by a faulty breaker.

Brathwaite says she renovated and rewired the house after her mother's death and her family moved in.

She said the tragedy was twofold, after investing her time and money to renovate the house, only for it to be destroyed.

"I just finished fixing the place, I fixed everything in the house, I spent over $100,000 to fix the house, all the money I worked to save.

"Now I don't have anywhere to go with my two children. I don't have any family support, I mind my three children by myself."

Keymani's father, she said, lost his job after getting covid19 "and he didn't get back any work, so he can't assist, I never pressured him. But this is really hurting me."

She says this is not the first time she has had to deal with trauma, as her brothers Jamal Brathwaite, 16, and Jadel Holder, nine, were gunned down in the same house in June 2014.

She and her children are staying with a neighbour, but she is appealing for help from the public to find a place to live.

Contacted for comment, Laventille East/ Morvant MP Adrian Leonce said he was aware of the incident and was organising with other agencies to help the family.

He said no repairs could be done on the family's house until the fire service finished its investigation, but he and the Ministry of Social Development and Family Services were prepared to help.

"Since yesterday (Monday), while the fire was going on, I was updated on what happened and got all of the information.

"The councillor and the disaster unit would have reached out to her. But for now my office is organising some non-perishable foodstuff, because she really would have lost everything.

"Also, because I'm the Minister in the Ministry of Housing, there are people in the HDC (Housing Development Corporation) who would be willing to help, and will be alerted as soon as the fire report is completed, so we will know how to assist."

Leonce said he has been in contact with Simpson's Funeral Home, Laventille, which offered to undertake the funeral at no cost.

He said the incident left him shaken on a personal level.

"It rocked me, because I have young children, and I can't fathom the thought of losing them at such a young age. So I do empathise, and my heart breaks because of what she's going through

"She is very emotional, so we also would be seeking to...get some psychological assistance to deal with the trauma. So we are rerally doing our best to support her as soon as possible."

Keymani's autopsy is expected to be done on Wednesday. Anyone interested in assisting Brathwaite can contact Newsday's Port of Spain office at 607-4929 during normal office hours.