What Killed St. Margaret’s Resident and Left Two Others Hospitalized?

Marlon Saget

Three residents of Saint Margaret’s Village on the Hummingbird Highway were drinking on Sunday night when one of them died and the other began to display odd behaviour and fell ill.  Of the two surviving men, tonight one has been released from the hospital and the other is in critical condition.  At this time, police say they don’t know what the men drank that led to the death and hospitalizations but they do know that they were consuming alcohol over several days. Here’s the story with Andrea Polanco.

Andrea Polanco, Reporting

Twenty-seven-year-old Marlon Saget survived a suspected poisoning but two of his friends, fifty-nine-year-old Augustin Rivas and sixty-four-year-old Manuel Gonzalez, weren’t as fortunate. Rivas is dead and Gonzalez is in a critical condition in the hospital. On Sunday, the three men were drinking in the village – from a shop moved on to the football field in St Margaret’s Village when just after seven in the night something went wrong.

Rosa Elizabeth Reymundo, Common-law-wife

“They mi deh right there the drink up. I left them and I come home and when I see my man come walking funny so and I say he mussie nice up lot. So, I neva study it and friends tell me go and see what happened and when I come and look through the window he nuh the deh, he run away. And then people say go and see him and when we gone and see him at a next house he deh right there the tremble and he mi the talk different – he mi the talk funny nuh.”

Saget was vomiting and showing signs of respiratory distress and appeared to be in a state of confusion. His family acted quickly and called for help – they were all rushed to the Western Regional Hospital. Saget was treated and released. But his friend Augustin Rivas was already dead – he passed away on the scene, while Marlon Gonzalez was later transferred to the K.H.M.H.

Joseph Myvett

ACP Joseph Myvett, Head, National Crimes Investigation Branch

“Police were called to the Western Regional Hospital where they observed three male persons foaming – two of them were foaming and one had already passed away.   They were at an open lot outside of an establishment and may have ingested some liquid which caused them to be foaming. Investigators did visit the scene last night and are back again on the scene to conduct further investigation into the matter. What we were also told is that these persons have been drinking for six days consecutively in that area. So, we are trying to determine whether or not whatever was ingested was ingested accidentally or otherwise.”

According to Reymundo, the deceased may have been the only one who was drinking for many days in the village. She alleges the men obtained the alcohol from Ping An LI store in the village.

Andrea Polanco

“Now, Miss Reymundo, do you know what those guys were drinking?”

Rosa Elizabeth Reymundo

Rosa Elizabeth Reymundo

“They mi the drink rum that they buy from the Chinese and they drink that and then thing happen.”

Andrea Polanco

“Were they drinking for a long time?”

Rosa Elizabeth Reymundo

“From the morning.”

Andrea Polanco

“What about the days leading up?”

Rosa Elizabeth Reymundo

“No. Only Augustin. He mi had lotta days the drink.”

The men, according to villagers, were drinking excessively over the past few days. One villager says he doesn’t believe their drinks were tampered with. He says that he suspects the trio may have had too much alcohol in their system – and thus he doesn’t suspect foul play or accidental consumption of a toxic substance. And if that is true – were the men victims of alcohol poisoning? Did the several days of drinking lead to an alcohol overdose? Police say a toxicology report will be prepared to determine what killed Augustin Rivas. Reporting for News Five, I’m Andrea Polanco.