Jun 12, 2010 0
Boy Commits Suicide Because Mother Was Going Away To Work
The family of 14 year old Norris Smith of a Flankers address in St. James is in mourning, after the boy reportedly hanged himself on an ackee tree, as a way of protesting his mother’s plan to leave Jamaica in order to work in the United States. The incident reportedly happened on Thursday (June 10), and his mother – Marcia Reid – has vowed to serve God and never to travel abroad again for economic reasons.
Reid, a single mother of five, reportedly said that she had been working as a security guard on the night shift for 11 years and had become tired of struggling to make ends meet. She reportedly told the three of her children who lived with her, that she was leaving for the US to work so life could be better for all of them and that she would be leaving them in the care of others. Norris was to be left with his father.
After hearing the plan, Norris reportedly threatened to kill himself, but Reid did not take the suicidal threats seriously.