The driver of the car that reportedly fatally struck drummer David Burnett on Monday evening on the Beterverwagting Public Road was yesterday charged with causing death by dangerous driving and was released on bail.
Kemraj Kumar, 26, made his first court appearance before Magistrate Alex Moore at the Sparendaam Magistrate’s Court.
After pleading not guilty to the charge, Kumar was granted $150,000 bail and the case was adjourned until March 15.
Burnett, 49, who was also known as ‘Al Capone,’ had earlier gone on an errand in the city to collect remittances for his 79-year-old mother. He was later waiting to cross the road, at the intersection of Side Line Dam and the Railway Embankment at Beterverwagting, on the East Coast Demerara, when a car, PLL 3302, that was heading eastward struck him down.
The car had visible damage: the left head light was broken, the bonnet dented and the windscreen shattered.
The driver of the vehicle rushed Burnett to the Georgetown Public Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Burnett’s autopsy, which was done yesterday, revealed that he died from multiple injuries, including a fractured skull and hemorrhaging of the brain.
Relatives of the 26-year-old driver had told Stabroek News that the car was loaned to him to make rounds for an upcoming wedding of a family-friend. They said the man was an unemployed mason and the owner of the car had said that because he was hard working and didn’t have a job, she would lend him the vehicle so he could earn some money for himself.
