By Nagra Plunkett, Staff ReporterWESTERN BUREAU
A 23-YEAR-OLD man, believed to be of unsound mind, turned himself over to the Balaclava police in St. Elizabeth after he reportedly stabbed a man to death during a domestic dispute on Thursday night.
This is the second such incident in the island since the start of the month. Earlier this month, a 23-year-old man, also said to be mentally unstable, beheaded his cousin in Catherine Hall, Montego Bay.
Investigators have levelled murder charges against the accused man, Nakia Young, also known as 'Sickhead', of Castleton district in Balaclava.
Young is expected to appear before the Black River Resident Magistrate's Court next week where he will answer to the death of 27-year-old Garfield Jones, also of a Castleton address.
ALTERCATION
Information from Corporal Angella Williams is that Jones was standing at his gate about 7:45 p.m. when Young reportedly approached him. An altercation developed, after which a knife was used to stab Jones to the upper part of his body. He was taken to the Black River Hospital where he succumbed to his injuries. Young subsequently gave himself up to the lawmen.
In response to the incident, Dr. Horace Chang, member of Parlia-ment and a medical doctor, argued that the country's health facilities were not properly prepared to handle mental health cases. This, he said, has worsened, especially in light of government's proposal to phase out Bellevue, the country's premier mental health facility. He added that it will result in an increase of the number of men-tally ill patients being treated at the community level.
"There is nothing wrong with the policy, but it needs the proper resources which, in fact, may need more than is required right now at Bellevue," Dr. Chang said. "In order to be efficient, we would need a whole battery of trained mental health workers."
