Teen leaps to his death after reportedly setting kitchen on fire in Harlem

September 18 2021 Manhattan, New York – A teen in East Harlem died after leaping from the roof of his home where kitchen was on fire.

On September 18, 2021 in Manhattan, NY a fire on the upper east side, incident was reported at 440, East 105th and Firefighters responded, fire was extinguished.

One person, a teen, pronounced dead on the scene from jumping off the roof of the building. Eighteen year old Jamel Martínez, suffering from a mental illness set fire to the unit he lived in before jumping, according to police.

We spoke with a group of teens and their parent on their way home that witnessed the event.

“There was a fire in the kitchen. And, yeah, he had to jump off to survive. So he jumped off and the body landed right there.”(she points towards the sidewalk lined with parked cars)

When asked if she saw a body. The female teenager responded. “Yeah I did, his neck was on the car.”

A male teenager responds and says, “Yeah, we were coming back home.. and that’s when we saw him jump”

“No, we just saw him jump, and of course we were shocked. You know what I’m saying.” Says the male teenager.

Stunned firefighters walking by talking with each other said… “There’s no way he jumped from a unit.”

Around 80 firefighters battled a blaze.

Video by Ken Lopez (FNTV freedomnews.tv)