Woman set ablaze succumbs to injuries
Published:Monday | August 23, 2021 | 12:10 AMHopeton Bucknor/Gleaner Writer
Nicola Clarke, the woman who was allegedly set on fire by her partner in a fit of rage in Great River, Hanover, on May 19, died from complications from her burn wounds on Sunday.
Natalie Feinberg, a sister of Clarke’s, disclosed that her sister passed away approximately 5:20 p.m. at the JMD Burn Center at the Doctors Hospital of Augusta in Atlanta, Georgia. She had been flown to the United States for treatment on May 27.
Feinberg expressed gratitude to the Sanmerna Foundation, the Doctors Hospital, Trinity Air Ambulance, and GoFundMe donors for giving her sister and the family hope.
“We are also grateful as a family for all the calls, all the prayers, all the encouraging words. We are lost for words as a family and are asking to be remembered in your prayer as we take the time to grieve violence against women. This must be stopped and must no longer be tolerated or accepted in today’s society,” she said.
Robert Whyte, director of the Sanmerna Foundation and managing director for Sanmerna Paper Products, said that his team tried everything to save Clarke’s life.
“It very sad for me and the team at Sanmerna Foundation and also a lot of persons in Jamaica and overseas who are now mourning her passing,” he said.
It was reported that about 4:30 p.m. on May 19, Clarke, who operated a car wash and bar, got involved in a dispute with her boyfriend, Emron Pillnar.
It is alleged that he accused her of infidelity, doused her with gasolene, and set her and the building on fire.
Pillnar has been charged with attempted murder but that is expected to be upgraded to murder.