By Noel Thompson, Freelance Writer

WESTERN BUREAU:

Hours after a man telephoned his relatives and revealed that he was going to hang himself, his body was found swinging from a tree on the Round Hill Estate in Hopewell, Hanover, on Tuesday afternoon.

Oral Cunningham Sr. had learnt that his three-year-old son, Oral Cunningham Jr., had perished in a fire, which he (the father) had set to his house on Sunday morning, when he telephoned relatives.

"It seem he was very stressed and could not tolerate the fact that the baby's death was caused by his action. He was such a cool youth," said a resident who spoke with The Star on condition of anonymity.

Refused entry

The Hanover police say that at about 11:30 a.m. on Sunday, Cunningham, who had lived with his common-law wife, Desrene Hewitt, a 35-year-old higgler, and their son, had gone to the house to visit his child and to collect money from Hewitt.

On his arrival, he discovered the grilled gates padlocked, while Hewitt, her friend Dwayne Johnson, about 25 years old, and her 16-year-old daughter, Kemeisha McKay, were inside. Cunningham repeatedly asked to see his son, but he was refused entry to the house.

Kemeisha told The Star that she saw when Cunningham went in the vicinity of some banana plants and picked up bottles with gasolene.

"Him bruck out di window and pour the gas inside and then set the house on fire," Kemeisha said.

Miss Hewitt, Dwayne, Kemeisha and the baby were trapped inside, but the three made their escape, leaving the child behind.

Residents said the relationship between Cunningham and his child's mother had gone sour for some time, and he had accused her of having a relationship with someone else.

Cunningham's body was found hanging from a pimento tree by a length of rope by a farmer who was tending to his farm.