Man hangs himself in public on Old Year’s Day

A family member of Darion Lampkin believes that the 26-year-old man took his own life as a result of mental illness.

Lampkin, a farmer of South Rivers, hanged himself over an embankment at the Park Hill playing field, on Wednesday, December 31, at about 1:30 p.m. {{more}}

He was pronounced dead at 6:35 p.m.

In an interview with SEARCHLIGHT yesterday, a cousin of the deceased said while her cousin had his problems, she is saddened by the manner in which his life ended.

“He was really a good guy. I know he had his problems, but we’re really sad that he took his own life,” the cousin, who asked for her name not to be mentioned, stated.

According to her, Lampkin lived in Tortola for about 13 years, before returning to St Vincent in 2012, after suffering a nervous breakdown.

“He was back to normal like after two years or so. Sometimes he would act up, then he would just come back like a totally normal person. Is like sometimes he don’t know what he doing, because he had a nervous breakdown again while here,” the cousin said.

The cousin said from a young age, the deceased had been diagnosed with schizophrenia.

“Sometimes he would act up and say that people were after him. Sometimes he would come and be so loving and then he would act up and come like a whole different person,” she said.

Lampkin lived in South Rivers with his grandfather, but spent a lot of time with his grandmother at Park Hill.

On the fateful day, the cousin stated that when she got the news that Lampkin had taken his life, she left work immediately.

“Everybody was screaming and appeared shocked when they saw him hanging there. They used to call him Mr Reid for some reason. Like if anybody sick and thing, he would give them bush and thing. He was a very nice boy. When he came back to St Vincent, everybody was saying he was crazy, but they never shun him,” she said.

She further stated that Lampkin was also making plans to go back to Tortola to help his mother and work.

“He had plans. She (his mother) wanted to send for him in December, but he pushed back the date and say he go spend Christmas home, because he killed some pigs and people were ordering and so on,” she said.

The cousin also refuted claims that Lampkin was a drug addict.

“He used to smoke, but he was never a drug addict as people are saying. He had mental problems yes, but not a drug addict,” she stated boldly.(KW)