Update – Man, 71, dies after falling from ackee tree 

As the country awoke to Emancipation Day celebrations on Friday, tragedy struck the community of 1st Avenue Chapel Gap, St Barnabas, St Michael, when a 71-year-old man fell to his death while picking ackees near his home.

The deceased has been identified as Arthur Uncle Barrow, a beloved elder in the neighbourhood, known for his love of ackees and his warm, fatherly presence.

The incident occurred just hours before the national Emancipation Day march was set to begin.

“Police at the Operations Control received a report about 7:44 a.m. today, the 1st of August 2025, that a man had fallen from an ackee tree outside his residence and that man appeared to be dead,” confirmed Police Communications and Public Affairs Officer, Inspector Ryan Brathwaite, at the scene. “Police units, as well as the ambulance service, were dispatched to the area. On arrival, they found the motionless body of a male lying under an ackee tree. A medical doctor was summoned to the scene, examined the body, and pronounced death.”

Barrow’s death sent shockwaves through the tight-knit community, where residents stood in disbelief, some weeping openly as the reality of the incident set in.

Barrow’s younger brother, Wayne Barrow, struggled to hold back tears as he briefly spoke to the media.

“Last time I talked with my brother was last week. We spoke and he turned around and left . . . . He asked for our mother. She’s already passed, but he called for her,” Wayne said, visibly shaken.

The deceased, a father of nine, was described as a “jack of all trades” who took on various odd jobs to earn a living.

“He did everything, did anything that could make some money. But he was an alright fella . . .” Wayne recalled. “He was well known, like a father figure in the community.”

According to family members, climbing the ackee tree to pick fruit was something Barrow did regularly—part of his routine when the local fruit was in season.
“Yeah man . . . but at that age, you know anything likely to happen. Cramp, all them things likely to happen when you get a sorta age,” Wayne stated as he recalled receiving a phone call informing him that his brother had died while trying to climb an ackee tree.

Police have launched an investigation.
Anyone who may have witnessed the incident is being asked to contact the District ‘A’ Police Station at 430-7242 or 430-7246 or the nearest police station.