The man, Jamaican-born 26-year-old father of one, Dwayne Davis, was found hanging on the morning of Saturday, 26th February, 2011. He had turned himself in at the Gray’s Farm Police Station that day after an in-law reported to police that he had threatened her.
In a statement outlining the circumstances surrounding his death, police said when the man arrived at the station he saw his wife in the waiting area and became angry, speaking to officers “in a loud and aggressive manner”.
The lawmen and his wife tried to calm him down, according to the police account, but he only got more agitated and disorderly.
“Hence, he was subsequently arrested on suspicion of the report that was made against him and placed in the cell, until he was calmed down. While inside the cell, Mr. Davis continued to shout intermittently. His voice could be heard at the guard desk and the waiting area,” the statement said
But when Davis got quiet, the officers on duty went to check on him and found him hanging from the cell door with a pair of shoe laces tied around his neck. He had no pulse and didn’t appear to be breathing.
The statement said that Police Commissioner Vere Brown, Deputy Commissioner Henry Christian, Superintendent Ivor David and other senior officers then rushed to the scene and a doctor was summoned. However, by the time they arrived, Davis was already dead.
Police said they are making investigations into the matter
According to reports in The Daily Observer, Davis was despondent and started to abuse alcohol after being unable to find a job.
His wife Nickey, with whom he had a five-year-old daughter, told the newspaper that he had tried to take his life, by overdosing on pills, on two previous occasions.
She said, though, that he was scheduled to start a job at a security firm today.
(Content for this article was obtained from a Caribbean360 release)