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Jehovah's Witness Jumps To Death In Brooklyn


By

Ben Yakas

Published Dec 29, 2011

Modified Dec 29, 2011


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By

Ben Yakas

Published Dec 29, 2011

Modified Dec 29, 2011


Share

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A Jehovah's Witness jumped to his death from a Brooklyn rooftop yesterday. According to police, Dwayne Fagan, 48, jumped from the top of his apartment building in the Linden Houses in East New York just before 1 p.m. Wednesday afternoon as bystanders looked on. “I thought someone had thrown an air conditioner off the roof. I screamed and screamed for a minute straight,” said witness Antoinette George, who also lives in the building.

A ledge above the the building’s entrance broke Fagan’s fall before he hit the ground. “I saw him land—it was so loud,” she added. “All his limbs were broken. He was lifeless.” Police say Fagan, who was said to be a devout Jehovah's Witness, had warned a family member he was planning to hurt himself in a series of texts messages before his death. According to the Cult Awareness And Information Center and other reports, Jehovah's Witnesses commit suicide at a rate far exceeding (5-10 times greater) the general population.

Tagged

brooklyn

death

dwayne fagan

east new york

Jehovah's Witness

suicide


Ben Yakas

Ben Yakas is a former Gothamist reporter.

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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations


Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations


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