The death of Jeremy Carnes, a 46-year-old Houston man found hanging, on fire, beneath an overpass last month, has left his family reeling and fueled speculation, as they insist a lifelong trauma surrounding fire makes the possibility of suicide unthinkable.
Carnes was discovered on October 24 by Houston Fire Department personnel on the North Interstate Highway 610, and Houston Police Department homicide detectives have launched an investigation. The cause and manner of death are still pending determination from the medical examiner’s office, HPD stated at the time.
While officials have not announced their findings, Carnes’s family has been vocal in local media, stating that his death could not have been self-inflicted. Carnes’s sister, Commilla Kidd, told local outlet Click2Houston that her brother was severely burned in a childhood incident when he was just three years old.
“He’s got face scars, the whole deal,” Kidd said. “My brother hated fire. Like it was a fear after that.”
The presence of burns on his body, given his history, is a key point of distress and disbelief for the family. “For anybody to say that he did this to himself, our family’s going, you don’t know him,” Kidd added, according to the report.
Houston Police Homicide detectives continue to lead the investigation into the mysterious death. The community and Carnes’s family await official findings that may shed light on how the man, who was reportedly terrified of fire, died with burn injuries.
Please make a small donation to the Tampa Free Press to help sustain independent journalism. Your contribution enables us to continue delivering high-quality, local, and national news coverage.
Sign up: Subscribe to our free newsletter for a curated selection of top stories delivered straight to your inbox.
