INDECOM probes death of Horace Williams after illness at Duhaney Park lock-up

The Independent Commission of Investigations (INDECOM) has opened a probe into the death of a detainee who took ill while held by police at the Duhaney Park Police Station in St Andrew.

The man has been named as Horace Williams, who lived at East Albion in St Thomas. Police took him into custody on July 2 as part of a murder inquiry, and he remained at the Corporate Area police station awaiting further court action.

Williams reportedly fell sick during the afternoon of July 21. Officers transferred him to the Kingston Public Hospital, where doctors declared him dead. Authorities have not yet explained how he became unwell or why he died.

Under its legal remit, INDECOM must examine fatalities involving people held by the security forces, and that inquiry is now under way.

His death forms part of a wider pattern of fatalities among people held by the State this year. As of yesterday, officials had counted 15 such deaths at correctional centres and police stations combined.

A post-mortem is expected to establish what killed Williams, and INDECOM’s probe remains active.