A man and his wife, married for 38 years, died after their motorcycle collided with a pick-up that was reportedly racing on the Garden of Eden, East Bank Demerara highway last evening.
Albert Pearson, 59 and his wife, Marlyn Alecia Pearson, 62, both of Land of Canaan, EBD were heading home after attending a christening at Grove, EBD, when the incident occurred sometime after 7 pm. The couple died on the spot. Last night’s accident was the latest in a series yesterday including one in which two children were killed on the East Bank Essequibo and another in which two police ranks were injured on Avenue of the Republic.
The incident occurred close to the bridge that separates Garden of Eden from Friendship. A resident told Stabroek News that she heard what sounded like a loud impact and when she ran to see what had happened, she saw the pick-up in the trench, while the motorcycle was on the road. The Pearsons were nowhere around and minutes later, Marlyn was spotted floating in another trench while some bubbles rose from where her husband went down on the opposite side. Residents dived to recover the bodies, which were battered and were still lying at the side of the trench when Stabroek News arrived on the scene.
Pieces of the mangled motorcycle littered the roadway with skid marks showing how far it had pitched. According to the resident, she saw the driver of the pick-up coming out of his badly damaged vehicle. She and other residents said that the man and another vehicle were racing and were reportedly returning to the city from the creek. The driver was taken into police custody. The vehicle reportedly belongs to a major shipping company. Both the Pearsons were wearing helmets and Albert was said to have been wearing a fluorescent hazard vest at the time of the accident. Groups of residents converged on the scene and motorists slowed to find out what had happened.
Deputy Mayor, Robert Williams, the brother of Marlyn, told Stabroek News last night that his sister worked at the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport as a welfare officer, responsible for youths including those at the New Opportunity Corps. The grieving man related that his sister had been with the Guyana National Service since its inception. Albert, he said, was a supervisor at the Barama Company, and he had joined the company, since it started operations here. The couple have three children, two of whom work in the Guyana Police Force and Guyana Fire Service.
Williams said that his brother-in-law had purchased the motorcycle two years ago but had owned another prior to that. They were a loving family, he said. “She always look out for the three of us”, said Williams referring to his sibling. He stated that his sister always looked out for bits of information relating to the family such as death announcements and would communicate this to them. Marlyn was also a domino 
player and was attached to the Blue Birds Domino team.
