Chateaubelair man charged with arson – 5 homeless

A Chateaubelair family is now homeless and destitute after their home was destroyed by fire last Friday. The fire started around 10:30 am and burned throughout the day.{{more}}

The two story wall structure is now a burnt-out shell.

Daniel Quashie, also known as I-Talla, 52 of Sharpes Village, is now in custody after he gave himself up late Friday evening. He was charged with arson, and is now on remand.

Neighbours told SEARCHLIGHT that Quashie and his common law wife Viola Findlay were involved in a quarrel about one of their sons earlier in the morning, after which Findlay left for Kingstown.

Neighbours say that Quashie began to drink alcohol after Viola left.

Eyewitnesses said Quashie then sent to buy gasoline, claiming he wanted to use it in his boat. They say he then doused the house, then walked away.

A distraught Findlay, 42, told SEARCHLIGHT that she was in a van at Lowmans Leeward, heading into Kingstown, when she heard the news from someone in the van, who had just taken a phone call.

“I don’t know why I-Talla had to do that, he just put his children out on the streets,” Findlay said.

Nothing was saved except for some of the children’s clothing, which was taken out by their father before he set the house ablaze. However, their uniforms and books were destroyed in the inferno.

The couple’s four children are quite distraught and expressed mixed feelings. The eldest, 17-year-old Daneisha, said that her father told her before she went to school that morning that he was going to burn the house.

“I did not take him serious. I watched him and went to school,” she related. Daneisha said that while at school, she got the feeling to go home and when she got there, she found the house in flames.

“I feel sorry for my father, but I am disappointed in him,” the teenager said.

Thirteen-year-old Danique told SEARCHLIGHT that she feels sad about the situation: “I don’t feel comfortable, but I miss my dad and I want him to come home,” Danique said, adding that her father suffers from high blood pressure and she believes that the rum he was drinking pushed him over the edge.

The family is at present staying with relatives. Danroy, 12, remains quiet while his younger sibling Danrick is staying with relatives in Georgetown.

Yesterday, Monday, SEARCHLIGHT visited the scene with the family and found a burnt-out shell of their lives.(TY)