Man who set wife, children on fire remanded

Bartica triple murder

Dead: Carolina Kennedy, five-year-old Mariana Downer, and three-year-old Gabriella Kennedy

Kenford Downer, the man who is accused of setting his house ablaze with his wife and children inside, was on Wednesday remanded to prison on three counts of murder.

Charged: Kenford Downer

Downer appeared before Magistrate Crystal Lambert at the Vreed-en-Hoop Magistrate’s Court slapped with three murder charges.
It is alleged that on December 12, 2020, at Four Miles Squatting Area, Bartica-Potaro Road, Region Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni) Downer murdered 48-year-old Carolina Kennedy, five-year-old Mariana Downer and three-year-old Gabriella Kennedy.
According to reports, on December 12, Downer reportedly heard his reputed wife talking on the phone with a male and became enraged. At about 21:30h, the Police received a report from an unknown caller that the couple’s house was on fire. However, when they arrived at the scene, the wooden structure was completely engulfed in flames. When the flames were put out by the Guyana Fire Service, the charred remains of the mother and her two children were found in a corner of the burnt rubble.
The suspect was subsequently found in the bushes near the house, and was arrested. He was admitted at the Bartica Hospital for minor burns to his feet.
Downer has been remanded to prison and the case will continue on January 27.