Taxi operator sentenced to prison for attempting to kill family by arson

6:57 pm, Fri October 18, 2019

A taxi operator who was accused of attempting to kill himself and his family in a bid to avoid being arrested by the police two years ago has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for arson. Devon Fisher was sentenced on Thursday before the Home Circuit Court. Prosecutors reported that in 2017, the police went to Fisher’s house in Bayshore Park, Harbour View, to execute a warrant following allegations that he robbed a group of foreign students in the St. Andrew Central Police Division while operating his taxi cab. During a standoff, it was reported that Fisher refused to cooperate with the police and instead threatened to set the house on fire and kill himself as well as his common-law wife and four children, aged nine months to 16 years old.   He then set the house ablaze. Police personnel broke down the door, removed Fisher and rescued his family. At the trial, Fisher denied the allegations and blamed the police for starting the fire in their bid to enter the house. During the sentencing hearing, it was revealed that he had 15 previous convictions, including one for murder.