A little over four months ago, Keino Jacob’s life changed forever when his Palo Seco home burnt to the ground.
Jacob’s two young children—Keimel, four, and Kylah, nine-months-old—were asleep in the house at the time and both died from burns in the weeks that followed.
Now Jacob says he has a hole in his heart which his children’s love and laughter had once filled and he is crying out for closure.
In an interview with the T&T Guardian at his parents’ Palo Seco home, where he and his wife, Malicha Thomas, have been staying since the fire, Jacob said he wanted an intervention by the Commissioner of Police in the investigation.
“We are still waiting for the police to tell us what has been going on. Will someone be charged for this?” he asked.
“I made my statements. I told the police who I saw running from my house that day. They have not been telling us anything.
“We waiting here everyday. When will we know? We need someone in high authority to look at this case and tell us what is happening. My children can’t die and go just so,” he said.
Clutching framed photos of his children, Jacob said while he had been trying to rebuild a home for him and Thomas, the lack of closure was holding him back.
“This is all I have now... all. A few months ago I had every happiness a man could want and look at me. From when I wake up to when I go to sleep, my children on my mind,” he said.
His mother, Annmarie Jacob, said: “I woke up someday last week and came downstairs to find him asleep with the pictures next to him, I wanted to move it but I didn’t have the heart.”
To compound his grief, Jacob said his problems with the person he believed burnt his home to ground continued to intensify.
“He is not leaving me alone. He told me if I build back any house, he will wait till I finish and burn it down again.
“Sometimes I feel like he take everything from me and now he pushing me to throw the rest away,” he added.
He complained that although he had been making reports against the person at the Santa Flora Police Station, he felt as though his reports were not being taken seriously.
“The police telling us if it’s us again making reports, like we shouldn’t take this man threatening us seriously,” he said.