No bail for man who set St James woman on fire
Published:Monday | July 1, 2019 | 12:19 AMChristopher Thomas/Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
Nickala Facey, the St James man who allegedly set an elderly woman on fire in April after he failed in his bid to rape her, had his bail application put off until July 24 when he appeared in the St James Parish Court last Thursday.
Facey, a labourer of Lima district, near Adelphi, is charged with murder arising from the death of 74-year-old Evelyn Blair at Cornwall Regional Hospital (CRH) in Montego Bay, two days after she was reportedly set ablaze by the defendant on April 25.
During Facey’s brief court appearance last Thursday, attorney-at-law Martyn Thomas, who represented Facey on behalf of his lawyer, Shelly-Ann Hyman, asked for the defendant’s bail application to be put on hold as he currently does not have a fixed place of abode.
Thomas further explained to Judge Sandria Wong-Small that the defence was in the process of taking additional instructions from Facey, in order to be adequately informed before making the bail application.
Wong-Small subsequently set the bail application for July 24 and instructed that Facey remain in custody until then.
According to the allegations, approximately 3 a.m. on April 25, Blair was in her one-bedroom house when Facey broke in and tried to rape her. Blair managed to chase him off with a machete.
It is further alleged that, approximately 6:30 that morning, Blair was walking along the road towards her daughter’s house when Facey approached her and threw a flammable liquid on her before setting her on fire. Blair was rushed to CRH and admitted with burns covering 98 per cent of her body.
Facey subsequently turned himself over to the police on June 4, and was picked out during an identification parade on June 8. He was charged following a question-and-answer session on June 9.