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Teen suffering from mental illness set Manhattan kitchen fire before leaping to his death from roof

The New York Daily News - 9/19/2021

An emotionally disturbed teenager set a fire in his apartment and then jumped from the roof of the building to his death, police said Sunday.

Jamel Martinez, 18, set the blaze in the kitchen of his 10th-floor apartment in NYCHA’s East River Houses on E. 105th St. near the FDR Drive just before 4:25 p.m. Saturday, officials said. The teen had recently been released from a hospital where he underwent psychiatric evaluation, police sources said.

As firefighters arrived to extinguish the flames, Martinez ran to the roof of the building and threw himself off, police said. He died at the scene.

A neighbor at the horrific scene Saturday said Martinez had just graduated high school.

“He was a sweet kid. Respectable, decent, loving and caring,” the 10th-floor neighbor said. “Just a beautiful kid.”

No one else was injured in the blaze, fire officials said.

©2021 New York Daily News. Visit nydailynews.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.