Teen in custody after fatal stabbing of father in Mountainside, St Elizabeth

A 19-year-old described by neighbours as mentally challenged is in police custody following the fatal stabbing of his 53-year-old father at the family's home in Mountainside, St Elizabeth, on Tuesday afternoon.

The deceased has been identified as Gary Allwood, a farmer, who was reportedly attacked multiple times inside the residence. The teenager remains detained as detectives continue their probe.

According to accounts from the rural farming district, the trouble began shortly after 1 p.m. when an argument flared between father and son after the elder Allwood reportedly told the teen to take his prescribed medication.

"When the police dem hold him, him tell dem say him father tell him fi go tek him pill dem, and it get him enraged," a resident told The Gleaner.

The medication had reportedly been prescribed in the recent past following medical assessments tied to the young man's mental health. Neighbours said the father had taken his son for an injection only a short time before the killing.

"A recently him carry him go get him injection. The whole thing just mash up me head. He (Gary) is really a humble person that look after him youth dem," another resident said.

Community members described the teen as someone who had been struggling lately, with several noting shifts in his behaviour. One resident said the young man had also recently sat tests in pursuit of a career with the police, but had heard nothing further and had reportedly grown frustrated, occasionally faulting his father for the perceived setback.

On the day of the incident, the teen was said to be using a pair of scissors to break up some marijuana when the dispute boiled over. Residents say he turned the scissors on his father, inflicting several wounds, before reportedly grabbing a knife and pressing the attack.

Neighbours raised an alarm and rushed to the house, where they discovered the farmer lying in a pool of blood in the kitchen. A large gathering quickly formed as word of the killing spread.

"When we hear and go over there, we see him dead on the floor. ... It was really a depressing scene. Everybody in shock," a resident told The Gleaner.

Allwood was pronounced dead at the scene and his body was later taken to the morgue.

The killing has revived conversation around the state of mental health services in rural Jamaica, where consistent care and follow-up are often hard to come by.

"The authorities need to examine the various rural communities because many are suffering with how to treat with mental health challenges. They can't wait until it's too late," the resident told The Gleaner.

Investigators say enquiries are continuing and the teenager remains in custody while the circumstances of the fatal encounter are pieced together.