A former Boys Training Centre (BTC) ward is a suspect in the police investigation into the death of Dunstan Butcher, alias ‘Jahrock’.
The seventy-six-year-old succumbed after a physical assault on Sunday at Darnley Alexander Street, Soufriere.
Police have confirmed formally interviewing a suspect.
Loukie Albert, the deceased’s daughter, described her father as an ‘all-rounder’ – a former police officer, accountant and manager, among other roles.
“He was a very intelligent guy who, along the way, we are not even sure what happened, but he had mental issues,” Albert told St. Lucia Times.
“I love my dad to death. He took care of me. But I migrated to the United States. My dad had a house in Bouton, but the house basically was derelict for now,” she disclosed.
“I was just getting ready to put him in a better position – getting his house fixed and also sending down some medical stuff for him, a wheelchair and all of that,” Albert stated.
She recalled learning about her father’s death from a cousin who is a nurse at the Soufriere Hospital.
Albert said she believed her father would have died from natural causes but noted that, according to what she learned, the suspect in his death is a teenager.
She indicated the need for justice to take its course but also emphasised the need for rehabilitation.
“I would advocate for helping young people,” Albert told St. Lucia Times, adding that peer pressure and family upbringing play major roles in shaping the way youth think and act.
Nevertheless, Albert acknowledged that even with proper upbringing, some youngsters go astray.
An autopsy on Tuesday found that Dunstan Butcher, alias ‘Jahrock’, died as a result of hemorrhagic shock secondary to blunt force trauma caused by a stone.
Albert said she heard her father sustained a blow to the neck, resulting in internal bleeding.
“It wouldn’t be any disagreement or altercation. But they do call my dad names in Soufriere and my dad would just sometimes curse them off. But my dad did not have that strength to say he would fight people off. After he got into that mental state, that’s how his brain worked,” she explained.
PHOTO: Dunstan Butcher, alias ‘Jahrock’.
Evidently rehabilitation is not working for the Former/present BTC members. Not sure what’s going on there – sometime ago another young man for the same facility wandered off and killed an elder (female) in the community who was at her home minding her own business .. this is sad on every level. Perhaps some of the members at the BTC are also suffering from mental issues which calls for a different approach. I would also add that some may need to be institutionalized.
St. Lucia you all need to do better on every level –
Although Jahrock constantly disrespect and insults almost everyone in the community it is a sad that he met his demise in that way.No one deserve to die in that way no matter what.Strange enough its only now that his daughter is showing concern.Too little too late.You could have made a difference in your fathers life a long time ago no matter what even when persons deemed him”a vagrant”.Just maybe his life would not have ended in that way.